Rhyme of Another Summer
by pixeletter
Summary: This is the story of Tetsuya, an indifferent seventeen year old boy who, while living in the Kuroko main house, discovers the creature trapped in its attic.
1. talking to humans

**A/N: This is from Queen Keri's account. We're the same person. I'm re-posting it here since I've decided that I'd like to continue writing the story after all. I wrote this back in 2012 and ****as to avoid confusion, **I deleted the original link and will just update in this account instead. I thought it's a waste since I _did_ liked the entire concept, supernatural as it is. Sorry to my previous followers :(

* * *

**talking to humans;**

* * *

_take a look at my body_

_look at my hands_

_there's so much here_

_that I don't understand_

* * *

___I first met him during my one-hundredth summer—human age: ten. T__he sun was scorching down the pavement and drying little puddles on the road. _ It was quite a peculiar way to meet, really. He spotted me sitting on my tree and he talked to me. He noticed me—when no one did. Since then, the two of us spent many more seasons together—without even knowing who he really was.

_"Uh, so what's it like there outside with the living?" I often asked him, but he would just smile and tell me that it was nothing special._

_"Talking to you like this is way more interesting that dealing with the living." He said sincerely, face absent of emotions._

_I remember myself feeling special with those words and I was extremely happy._

_What I felt for him when we were still young, I probably wouldn't realize it until I'm an adult._

* * *

_Talking to people isn't as dangerous as it sounds_, his mother often told him_. They could remember the way they were touched, they recollect feelings that could even be non-existent. Sometimes, they can see us too._

As a child, Aomine refused to believe in any of this. Conversing with humans doesn't exactly benefit him and besides, he is an obnoxious kid with a huge ego. He's just _not_ the right person for that kind of _task_ so he wouldn't go, try, possibly upset his self and even be _acquainted_ with them.

After all, humans killed his mother. Those humans that his mother loved the most.

"Uhm… excuse me."

Standing under the tree he was sitting at was a boy around his human age, looking up at him with impossibly bright and curious eyes. Aomine could see himself reflect on them, the summer skies behind his back. He would have ignored him and continued to gaze at the setting sun if the said kid didn't have a pair of black little wings fluttering softly on his back, like a _tenshi._

_He can see me so I guess he's not a human._

"E-excuse me." The said kid called timidly again, jumping lightly now as if he's trying to reach Aomine who's currently sitting on a branch, suspended five meters above the ground.

Still, even if he knew that the boy wasn't a human, he didn't bother to answer him. Soon, the said kid gave up and left. Aomine couldn't sleep well for the rest of the day. The next morning he came back and Aomine wasn't so pleased with this happening. Why was he bothering him?

"Hello?" The other boy tried to talk to him again, this time wearing a different set of clothes, which was unlikely for their kind because creatures like Aomine never changed clothes; there was never a need for it.

_Quite human-like_, Aomine thought. _Ugh, disgusting. _He mentally added.

"Can you talk?" The kid asked him blankly. "Can't I be your _friend_?" Aomine didn't answer, and he did the same for the next thirty minutes but that didn't stop the boy from staying. Even though Aomine looked like he didn't care— which was partly a lie by the way since Aomine couldn't help but see him from the top, the boy just continued to stand there, as though he was waiting for Aomine to do _something_. The kid finally left after standing there for almost thirty minutes, but not before he said goodbye to Aomine. This cycle continued for a week, with the kid always approaching him on the tree and with Aomine not paying attention.

As fall approached, the leaves of Aomine's tree began to wither.

The next day, it started raining hard and there was no sign that the sky would clear. There was no sign of that kid either— but it's not like Aomine was expecting him to come. Well perhaps he was, but he's not going say that out loud.

"_He's late today…"_ Aomine thought, staring at the road the kid usually takes. _"Well it's raining. And he probably got tired already because I am not talking to him. Heck, I didn't even look **directly** at him. It's been a week and I still don't know what his entire face is like. Only that his eyes and hair are probably blue. "_

"_Friends, huh?"_ he muttered.

The kid didn't show up for the rest of the day.

That night, he felt lonely.

_Even though I want to put distance between others and myself, I still can't stand being alone— _that what ran on his head until his eyelids became heavy with drowsiness.

He was still asleep on the tree branch when he heard someone's voice— loud enough to wake him up.

"Are you sleeping?"

Aomine frowned and got up. He scratched his head and crossed his arms over his chest, looking down at the said boy with a perfect display of nuisance written all over his face. And at that moment, he noticed that it _wasn't_ even morning anymore. It was almost night time. "I _was_. Why are you still here, you wimp."

The kid with light azure hair and pair of round eyes took a step backward because of his angered inquiry. "Oh. So you ARE actually capable of talking" The boy said plainly, eyes big as saucers as he pointed an accusing finger to Aomine—face still expressionless.

Exasperated, Aomine sighed. "Well, just what the hell do you want? It's not safe for a small kid like you to be in here alone. It's getting dark already. See?" He pointed at the setting sun and almost felt shivers ran down his spine when a rush of cold wind blew past them, almost whispering and tickling their young ears— it was a warning. He should climb up higher tonight.

"I know. But you're a kid too." The boy replied, totally unaffected by the said wind, it was as if he couldn't feel it at all. Aomine scowled at this. "I just thought you're weird. Every day you're just sitting in that tree. And you won't talk. I thought you can't see me at all." He replied normally, and tilted his head when he asked: "Why do you even have a tail?"

Aomine almost snickered at the question; of course he has a tail, he's a _nekomata's_ child. A demon cat. Well, of course he's not just any ordinary cat but he isn't exactly a demon either; even Aomine admits that his species' name is misleading. He was raised by a _Kyuubi_ though (nine tailed fox). It was vastly a common knowledge among the likes of him, why couldn't this kid tell? With the blue glow his tail emits, who wouldn't notice?

_He's probably new around this place._

Aomine thinks, and thinks again.

"What's your name?" His voice was rather proud even though he had decided to finally talk to this kid and actually intended to show him around the place.

"Huh?" The kid tilted his head, as if that would help him analyze the question that had been asked. _He kind of looked like an owl,_ Aomine thought.

_Ah… that makes sense since he have wings._

"Name." He repeated, not really impatient and just curious. It's been awhile since someone had actually approached him without getting intimidated. Aside from being respected but treated like a royalty, being raised by a Kyuubi certainly does have downsides too. Everyone has this perception that he's patience was as short as his nails and that when bored, he wouldn't spare your life and _eat_ you mercilessly. Aomine thought it's rather ridiculous. Sure, he does have a hot temper but it's too much to say that he'll eat them. That's gross. He's _a gourmet_ and wouldn't eat anything that is raw.

"Do you tend to NOT answer when you're asked a question?"

"Oh…" The blue-eyed kid was bewildered. But if you'd ask Aomine, he actually looked glad.

He shyly bowed his head and muttered "K-Kuroko Tetsuya".

Thanks to Aomine's sharp hearing, he was able to catch what Kuroko had murmured. "It's a _pleasure_ for you to meet me then, _Tetsu_."

"Uh… I guess?" Aomine glared at him. Apparently, Kuroko's response wasn't good enough. He merely sighed.

"You can climb up here." Aomine then suggested, referring to the free space beside him. The branch was rather small but it was just big enough for him and Tetsu to share. Of course, Aomine would be uncomfortable; having someone else to hang around his favorite place was not yet on his wish list. _But then… _The young cat looked at Kuroko's direction and almost glared when a creepy pair of floating eyeballs sprouted from the ground and was almost close in dragging Kuroko's feet; it probably had the intention of eating him.

Well, Kuroko's wings did look delicious after all.

The boy was completely naïve of the said creature and was just gazing at Aomine, hesitating whether he should climb or not because he's not good with anything that involves the use of strength.

"He's an acquaintance." Aomine's voice was warm but it sent Tetsu shivers, and wondered who he was talking to. He glanced around but saw that it's just the two of them.

"What are yo—" He started but was cut off by Aomine's voice.

"I said he's my acquaintance! Touch him and I'll surely make you regret it! " Aomine's tail glowed madly as he growled at the said pair of eyeballs. It seemed like Tetsu was still oblivious to it and thought that he made Aomine angry yet again.

"Uh okay. I got it. Please don't get mad, I won't touch your tree." He withdrew his hand that's about to touch the said tree and took a step back, making it easier for the creepy monster to get a touch of his feet. Hands suddenly sprouted from it sides.

But in response, Aomine yelled at him with a single-minded panic on his voice. "Oi! Are you stupid? I said climb up here, you _wimp_! Do you want to die?" Aomine jumped and yanked Tetsu away from the ground. But just when he was in the process of doing so, Tetsu got scared in retaliation so he took another step back and tripped eventually. The monster quickly took the chance to grab a hold of Tetsu but the moment he touched the boy's skin, it burned to ashes by some sort of blue flame, as if Tetsu was guarded by something not visible to anyone. Not even to Aomine's sharp eyes.

"Ow." Tetsu scratched the back of his head as he recovered from his fall.

Stunned, Aomine wasn't able to move for a while and had just stared weirdly at the boy before him.

_What was that?_

"_What _are you?" Aomine asked when Tetsu finally got up from the ground. His eyes were met by a pair of azure ones. Tetsu has very light blue eyes, he noted. He then felt a tight wonder swirling on them and got confused. Why was Tetsu looking at him like that when it's Aomine who needed answers?

Aomine didn't like being stared at like that so he withdrew his eyes away from Kuroko's searching pair and met the ground. The ashes from the monster earlier were scattered under them.

"Are you mad?" Tetsu asked after a while, the cold finally seeping its way through his bones. He hated the cold so he always stayed indoors but today, he felt like going out and just happened to see Aomine, still sitting at the tree just like when he first saw him a month ago. At first he didn't pay him any attention, thinking that it was just a kid from the neighborhood but as the days passed, he noticed that Aomine was always sitting on that same spot and that his clothes never changed, as if he never even left, as if that was his home.

"Mad for what?"

"For _touching _your tree." Kuroko almost stuttered. To be honest, this tanned kid looks very mean. "You yelled_ 'Touch him and I'll surely make you regret it!' _earlier."

"Huh?" Aomine blinked. "Ah I think you got it all wrong, I only—"

"But you're asking me to climb up, how would I climb up there when you don't even want the tree to be touched. That's just weird."

"What?" Aomine's mouth hung open. "You're the strange one in here. I was just trying to save you."

blinked. "From what? "

"From that _monster_! Didn't you know? It wanted to eat you!"

"What are you talking about?"

"You can't be serious, it's like you didn't see it at all…"

_Didn't see it at all? But… it was **going** after him. That's impossible! Unless…_

Now it's Aomine's turn to take a step back, he cringed under Tetsu's stare. "Unless you can't see _them_."

"See what?" Tetsu blinked "I can see you perfectly well."

"And my tail, can you see my tail?" It was hesitant question.

"So that's really a tail." There was a smile on Kuroko's lips. "I thought it's just a costume."

_You've got to be kidding me._ "Tetsu, just what are you exactly? You have wings and—"

Tetsu then looked at him funnily, but with that expressionless face of his, it was hard to tell. "Since when did I have _wings_?"

There was a movement in the air. The tension on Aomine's face was returning as he felt another presence approaching. The color had drained from his face.

_He's a human._

"Tetsuya? It's time to go home!"

Kuroko's head turned to the direction of the voice. "Oh, that's my auntie. I have to go—"

But just as he returned his gaze to the boy with tails, he was already gone, as though he wasn't even there in the first place. Kuroko inhaled, and smelled the scent of a cat.

_I haven't even asked for his name._

* * *

**AN****: **Well, first off this was also posted in AFF under my username __keri_, so no, I didn't copy this in case the story sounds familiar :)

Anyhow, Yōkai is a term mostly associated with Japanese folk creatures and ghosts. Recently, I've been really interested on things like this, especially when I watched the anime _Natsume Yuujinchou,_ you can say that the plot of this fic will be greatly influenced by that series.

Actually Aomine's tree cannot be seen by humans. Apparently, Aomine isn't aware yet that his tree was supposed to be invisible to human eyes because it's blessed with a magical barrier that his Kyuubi guardian gave. In our world, it is called a Dracaena aka Dragon Tree, mostly found in Africa but in this fic, I'll simply call it Aomine's tree :)

PS: This chapter will be highly significant on the following updates that I will write. I might even call this a FALSE chapter, a chapter that contains nothing but _lies._ You'll know why in the future :3

Reviews please :D


	2. what is up in there?

**A bit OOC especially with Akashi in here I guess? I based most of his personality from when he's still at Teikou so please don't expect him to be the one Seirin have met. You've been warned :)**

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**what is up in there?;**

* * *

_It's time to buy a new house._

That was what Tetsuya's great, great, great grandfather must have thought when his eyes landed on the blue-bricked mansion with seamless roof on the northern side of the town. It was a huge house with an equally big courtyard and was surrounded by trees. Elegant curves decorated the gate posts; the fence itself was built quiet high and was made of black steel. Over the years, that became the ancestral house for the entire Kuroko family.

Kuroko's been taken to main house by his aunt after the death of his mother when he was only ten years old.

_"Tetsuya? It's time to go home!"_

"_Okay, uh aunt, I met a kid back there and he got tails—"_

"_Your mom's dead."_

"…"

"_We got a call from the hospital. They said she drowned herself. Seriously, what a troublesome woman."_

"_Mom is… what?"_

"_Dead."_

And after that, there must have been the ocean. They said her mom drowned herself in there, out of despair. But Kuroko knew it wasn't like that. Her mom had always been weird. She could see things others couldn't and that was why many people often made fun and hurt her (him too), saying that she's a liar, that she's crazy.

_Perhaps mom got sick of it; maybe she just wanted to be alone as soon as possible_.

He's just a kid. Perhaps he understood. It could be that he didn't.

Maybe it was both.

The ocean was just behind the ancestral house, on a rocky beach wherein a cave was also located but only visible when the tide is low. It kind of shaped like a cat, when you examined it closely. Not far from the shore was a lighthouse— they said it's already a hundred years old or older with all of those rusty railings that threatened to break when touched and chips of paint peeling off from the wall.

Together with his not-so-loving family, Kuroko currently lives in the mansion. There were three of them living in there, him, his uncle, and the servant boy named Akashi. But it was said that this Akashi was originally part of the family; when his father tainted their name after cheating and going with another woman beside his wife, they were disowned by the entire clan, now they can only stay in the house as servants. Kuroko and Akashi remained unaffected though, despite the harshness their uncle who took them under his wing out of written responsibility often gives them.

"Anywhere else, just not the attic, please—"

"Silence!"

It was only several weeks when he was taken to the mansion when he accidentally broke a million-worth vase displayed on the living room. He was ten years old. Kuroko was frightened of the dark, he couldn't see well too so when his uncle locked him up on the attic, he bawled his eyes out, calling for someone who's not even there.

Akashi could only watch as Kuroko was being dragged up to the ladder, feeling bad because it was originally his fault why the vase broke, if only he hadn't asked Kuroko to play with him, none of this would even happen.

The door to the attic was a slider painted with a dark color. It gives off an impression of being thick, heavy and forbidden. Kuroko was pushed inside the crumpled and dusty room without any candle or source of minimum light. Cold sweat ran down his back as he scanned the surrounding. There was practically nothing to see in there but darkness, he didn't even want to know what he could see in there. After all, it wasn't only because of the obscurity why Kuroko felt so scared, it was worse than that.

Because he knew…

Because the entire family knew that something was residing in there.

Here in this very attic.

Something alive.

"Let me out! Let me out!" He knew it was hopeless but he's not going to sit there and be forced to watch the blackness engulf him. He drew a quiet breath. Light was nowhere to be seen and it didn't sooth his soul. His hands finally hurt and stopped banging at the door, only to end up curling into a ball, hugging his knees close to his chest. He remembered hearing hollow voices whispering close to his ear as everything looked darker and colder. He clasped his hands together and shut his eyes shut, reciting the rosary with almost sinking courage. He fell asleep, feeling that a strange little figure was gazing at him, with yellow blinking eyes.

Kuroko didn't know what time it was when day light began to fill the room and the door had been finally unlocked. As he climbed down the ladder from the attic and ran to his room, he thought he heard a voice calling out for him but Kuroko vowed to never return on that place.

Ever again.

* * *

_**Ten years later**_

* * *

One evening, in the beginning of December, there would be a reunion for the entire Kuroko family which was to be held on the ancestral house.

"So that's why Akashi had been running errands a lot these past few days." Kuroko thought as he stared at his reflection on a full-length mirror inside of his room. "Preparations." He added although his uncle barely spoke to him about the said event and had given such a short notice this morning that he needed to dress formal during dinner. Tilting his head a bit, he smiled slightly, feeling awkward but nevertheless satisfied in how his suit fitted his frame perfectly; it was one of those rare times that he could feel confident on his self.

There were four knocks at the door right after Kuroko finished adjusting his tie. He didn't answer because four counts meant that it's Akashi— it was sort of a secret code between the two of them. He turned to the younger boy when the door opened and smiled lightly, as though he was asking if the clothes looked good on him; he never really trusted his own opinion. Akashi shook his head lightly and merely adjusted his cousin's crooked neck tie, slender fingers touching the smooth cloth.

"You're going to be in there?"

"I _party_ too, Akashi."

"Well, that's unexpected."

"It was Uncle's order."

Akashi just hummed in acknowledgement, patted Kuroko's shoulder when he's done with the tie and flopped down on one of Kuroko's padded chairs, eventually examining the pile of books resting on the table in front of it.

"How about you?" Kuroko asked, staring at the younger boy through the mirror. Akashi replied with a shrug.

"Not a chance." Akashi told him sharply."I'm not in that family anymore. Besides it for their own sake. I might just hurt them all." His voice was cold. "Oh have I told you already that I found some _awesome_ scissors on the kitchen? Very sharp. I think _they_ are antique, they looked old."

Kuroko knew that the family thing was a sensitive subject so he simply dropped it off with a simple "Okay" and just told Akashi not to use the said scissors to scare the visitors later, no matter how mean they could be. Because Akashi could be a lot _meaner._

He combed his hair one last time and fixed it up into a messy pony tail; it was long enough to be held like that. A few light strands stuck out and fell on the side of his cheeks and framed his semi-rounded face well. Ten years ago felt really distant to Kuroko, back then, he was just a timid kid that looked thin as a sheet of paper. Not that he isn't anymore. He's thinner before though. His once-short hair was now longer, just covering his ears, and his jawline and neck were still slender, but not pitifully thin. He carried no remnant of the weakness he used to see in the mirror whenever he looked at himself, right after the years his mom died and he was left alone.

Right after when he was released from the attic.

Kuroko shook his head and just made his way to the door, throwing Akashi one last look.

"I'll be going then."

"Sure. Have fun." He knew that Akashi was simply being sarcastic about it.

"And don't forget to bring me food."

"Fine. As long as you don't disarrange the books in—" His sentence was cut off when the said pile of books fell on the floor messily as Akashi had tried to pull a novel out from the middle section. Akashi is naturally graceful and sometimes Kuroko thinks Akashi is just being clumsy on purpose to annoy him.

"Ooops." The younger boys looked at him with a fake-apologetic grin. "Don't worry. Go ahead. I'll clean this up."

Kuroko sighed but left anyway. He had always known that Akashi was a threat to his reading materials.

At night, the hallway and corridors of the mansion can look dreadfully long, and not mention scary; that's why Kuroko barely wander around the darkness, especially when he's alone. Every single sound that would come was a relief to him when he's being succumbed by the silence. Well, it was not really his fault that his room was on the top most floor— third floor and that he also needed to walk down the creepy hallway just to get to the dining area. He should have asked Akashi to accompany him but that would be weird since he's older.

Emerging recklessly and eyes focused solely to the mouth of the stairs, he walked pass the tiny space just around the corner wherein the ladder to the attic was located.

"_Kuroko is the bravest man on earth. Kuroko is the bravest man on earth."_ He told himself repeatedly as he felt cold just by getting near the said ladder. You see, this was what he has to go through just to get downstairs. Ten years had passed but it seemed like that place, that attic, was the only part of the house that had remained untouched.

_Thud._

He heard something fall upstairs and then it was followed by a set of footsteps. He clutched his chest, and felt his own heartbeat thudding against his palm. He jumped back. Kuroko stopped on his tracks and looked up to the celling, slowly but with keenness.

_Plock!_

_Plock!_

The sound of droplets falling to the ground met his ears and just then, something wet touched his cheeks. The corridors have two sides; the left side was the walls, doors and rooms while the other side was made of glass windows— just like those that were found on churches, so it wasn't hard to see the hallways from the outside. As the moon revealed _herself_ from the clouds and the shadows were thrown down by the light of it, brilliant patterns of crystal snow carved on the window glasses were made visible. The hallways were seen in dim light through the windows. It should have been a beautiful sight, if only Kuroko wasn't aware of the liquid substance sliding down his cheek and onto his neck.

Another drop that came from above made Kuroko paralyzed with fear. It was the colour of blood. Kuroko had never seen anyone or anything for this matter, _bleeding_ as profusely as this. The celling was _bleeding_?

_Was that really blood?_

His eyes remained frozen on that one spot on the ceiling, where blood continued to gather and drop down. The rusty smell of it registered on Kuroko's mind and that made him shiver in terror and sudden nausea. He looked down, ready to run but his feet wouldn't move. Something was really up in there. On that attic. To question that would be ridiculous.

"_Come here."_ A soft voice whispered._ "Come. Hurry."_

Of course Kuroko wouldn't go but his feet acted otherwise.

Another drop of blood landed on the floor and the more the voice talked, the faster the droplets fall, more violently, as if it'll just start _raining_ red.

"_Hurry!"_ The voice almost shouted and he felt a strong force pulling him up to the ladder. _"Climb up!"_

Kuroko shut his eyes close when a new sensation got a grab of him. Literally. There was dull pain on his ankles, and it felt like something was holding him down there. Another force came, grabbed him in the shoulder, and pulled him to the other direction— to the ladder. Kuroko bit his lip; he wanted them, whoever they were, to stop. By now, the force on his shoulders was stronger but the invisible thing holding his foot wouldn't budge either. Kuroko felt like he was in the middle of a tug of war and he's the rope.

—not good.

"Oi, do you want to die, _Tetsu?_"

He heard another voice inside of him. Somehow it sounded familiar, close even.

"That thing on your feet will eat you! Climb up here if you want to live!"

_Oh. This moment seemed familiar too_, he thought despite the danger of the situation.

Kuroko looked down but didn't see anything at all, but that didn't mean that he couldn't feel it.

"_I know you're scared Tetsu, but I can't let you die in here. Not now."_

_Once_, Kuroko thought, closing his eyes firmly. _Just this once._

Just then he felt the grip on his feet loosen but it was replaced by an icy sensation around his neck, and even though Kuroko couldn't see them, he knew they were fingers, five of them, closing around his throat. He bit his lips harder. The taste of blood spread inside his mouth.

"L-let me go." He croaked out.

"_Release him."_ The voice from earlier said. Kuroko thought he saw a glimpse of a tail when the fingers around this neck loosened entirely, then something got slammed on the wall. Hard.

"_Run to the attic."_ The voice commanded_. "Now!"_

Kuroko could feel his own panic rising and before he knew it, he's climbing up on the ladder with trembling hands and opened the door to the attic. For a moment, he felt like he'd die and felt safe right after shutting the door close. Resting his back on the wall, Kuroko sucked in a breath. He felt alright. It was alright. He's still alive. And back on this attic, the place he'd sworn never to enter again.

His fingers trembled with more difficulty and brought them to his face.

_What was that?_

He thought the blood from earlier was still on his face but when he touched his cheeks, they were dry. When he closed his eyes, a flurry of images rushed past his eyelids. A tree, those yellow eyes, and tails.

Tails.

He had seen those before. Kuroko began looking around then. And weird enough, the attic didn't look much darker and colder compared to the last time he'd been in there. In fact, it was almost cozy and warm. As if someone was living in there, keeping it lively for the past ten years.

The door suddenly opened, then closed fast even before Kuroko could blink an eye. Even if he was in the middle of fright, he made sure to lock the door earlier, so how can it be opened so easily?

"_You sure are troublesome."_

Before Kuroko could detect where the voice was coming from, a face was already so close to his, looking at him directly with lips pursed into a thin line. He emits a cold aura, like snow falling to the ground.

"And… you're _still shorter_ than me." The creature said, effortlessly cold but with a tinge of small interest. The pair of fierce eyes was unblinking, aggressive yet calm like the swaying of the grass on a summer day. They were very peculiar eyes, almost inhuman.

Kuroko took a baby-step backward and examined the said creature in front of him. From head to toe and from toe to head, he's basically… well, his tails were something a normal person couldn't have, and they were five of them. To put it simple— Kuroko's not really sure how to describe him.

Wait, he thought. _He only has one tail_. He examined the creature closely_. Why did I know that?_ But when the said tail moves, it seemed to be in slow motion and was almost multiplying via imagination. The way he swayed his tail was a trick to the eye, it seemed.

But most importantly his _tails _gave temporary light in the dark attic.

He was wearing grey Japanese-like clothing, a _yukata_? And has tails covered with blue light which were at least a meter long each; his nails were also painted in a very dark shade of blue, almost black from afar, complimenting dark-blue shade of hair. He looks so fit but not masculine, and has a perfectly tanned skin—the kind that you probably wouldn't have expected to like. Almost exotic. And his eyes were coloured so unnaturally of yellow, an almost-transparent tint. They caught the light of the moon, and glimmered.

"Admiring my good looks?"

The bold comment stopped Kuroko's train of thoughts and made him focus on the current matter.

"No. I just…" He replied, a bit calm and was still reluctant. He didn't even know who this guy was. Kuroko pondered for a second and had decided that it was no use panicking so he'd just ask this unknown guy questions that would clarify his confusion. "Who are you exactly?"

"This is why I _haaaaaaaate_ humans." The guy with tails sneered, throwing Kuroko a nasty look. "I really hate you. I kidnap you and you're not even scared of _me."_

"Pardon?"

"I said I hate you."

"Well, I'm sure I don't have any idea why."

"That!" He pointed an accusing finger to him. "God, I hate it when you don't have the slightest idea. Were you born stupid?"

"You're making me sound like I am. I don't even know who you are."

"You… you what?"

"Don't know you."

"At all?"

"At all."

There was a moment of silence.

"If I have known, I should have just let you die out there."

"And you didn't. Which is why you owe me explanations."

"Don't try to outsmart me with that sharp tongue of yours."

Kuroko drew a quite breath, the air smelled faintly moist but sweet, nothing like the old rusty scent he was expecting from the attic. He inched his way forward, careful not to touch the boxes surrounding them, this was a storage room after all. The area was rather small, compared to what he had seen ten years ago; perhaps that's because he's just a child back then.

"I _know_ who you are." The guy told him. Kuroko lifted his head and looked at him. For a male, Kuroko wasn't sure that, he was rather beautiful. That was pure sensory judgment. Sublime might even be the correct word to describe him because he held this air of mystery and ineffability which Kuroko lacks.

"Really?" Kuroko didn't mean to sound doubtful, actually the more he looks at him, the more familiar he gets.

"I thought you remembered, since you didn't freak out when you saw me. I mean, I have a _tails_." The guys raised himself slowly, elegantly moving the said tails.

Unfazed, Kuroko answered. "It's only one, actually. The way you move it is a trick to make it look like they were five of them."

The unknown guy sneered at him because he was right.

"Hm…" Kuroko gave a soft sound of acknowledgement.

"Are you... well, not human? The tails on your back... so... sometimes, I mean, right now I can see them."

"If you believe in me, definitely real."

"So you're actually aware of them. They are genuine? I-I thought it's just a costume."

The other boy fell silent. In front of Kuroko, there was like only an expanse of darkness; Kuroko couldn't feel his presence, as if he wasn't really there. Then the other guy suddenly started to tremble; _Ah_. He was laughing.

"You are _highly _unbelievable." He said in between his chuckles. "You actually said the exact same thing… like ten years ago, when we first met."

The wrinkles in his face when this guy smiles, Kuroko thought, were like the layer of fluffy clouds moving ever so unhurriedly on the azure sky; dancing with the wind and soft as silk. He wondered how it can look so calm and gentle, greatly contrasting the sharp features of his face.

"Oh." Kuroko said then paused. It suddenly clicked. "You… you're the guy on the tree."

"I'd like to believe that I am more than just the 'guy from the tree', Tetsu. And you still don't know my name, right? It's Aomine, by the way."

"Finally. It's nice to meet you again, Aomine."

Hearing his name, Aomine's breath seemed to slow down. He rubbed his nose with the back of his hands and sneezed. And whenever he did this, it's a sign that he's somewhat nervous.

"See? You can remember me clearly now, you have to; I just knew that it was impossible for someone like me to be forgotten." Was his proud claim, hiding the tremble on his voice. After all, Kuroko was still a human… he still smells like one. Although the wings on his back, Aomine had taken note of them, of course— just grew bigger… and more beautiful. They were neatly folded on Kuroko's back now and were glimmering through the faint light of the moon, sinful and naïve.

_Ah._ That was why he was trembling. Not only his wings had gotten bigger but the suffocating force it emits too.

Things that possess overwhelming power tend to inspire instinctual fear.

"Your hair's longer." Kuroko noted, eyes glowing with fondness and finally at ease to see an old, old, old friend— if they were really friends in the past. If there's anything in the world that holds a value from his past, it'd certainly be Aomine.

And just Aomine alone.

Because everything he thought he had before were all gone now.

"It'd been ten years, of course it'd become longer." He answered, dismissing the hollow anxiety from the pits of his heart. It seemed like Kuroko was still NOT aware of the wings. Aomine was now mindful that Kuroko was not quite human. He was just a child back then… seeing a creature like Kuroko frightened him, he didn't smell like a human yet he acted like one. He lives like a normal person. It was like seeing a fish climb a tree.

But that didn't change the fact that Aomine saved him, as to why he did so, he's not even sure himself, but then again, he has so many secrets of his own. Perhaps he's lying about his density towards the current matter, maybe Aomine knows what Kuroko really was and even if he did, he's not going to say it or made anyone aware of it.

He walked to the other side of the room and fetched candle sticks from one of the dusty shelves. Kuroko had to wonder why he was so familiar with the places on this attic, given the fact that it's so dark inside of it.

Using the light of his tails, Aomine lighted the three candles and soon enough, bluish light illuminated the entire room. That was only the time Kuroko had realized and saw that the entire place was actually… a bedroom. There was a bed placed in front of the middle window and a table set in front of the window in the right corner; other than that, there were no signs of other furniture. However, it was an orderly room, free of the clutter of everyday life. It felt a lot different from the rest of the house, almost as if it were in another house altogether.

As the room bathed itself in dim light, the clanking sounds of dragging chains echoed through the walls and onto the four sides of the room. Kuroko shivered at the meticulous sound and looked for the source of it, only to lay his eyes on Aomine's right foot— a rusty metal chain was embracing his ankle. It was connected to a wooden post that supports the very roof of the attic, locked and cruel. A rush of concern clogged Kuroko's train of thoughts for he unexpectedly reached out for Aomine's restrained foot, but a force blocked him from touching it— sending him flying to the wall.

Aomine weirdly stared at him, eyebrows arched— clueless on how Kuroko was suddenly on the other side of the room. Then the realization had hit him. He looked back and forth from the chain on his feet to Kuroko who was standing up from the floor, a small pained frown painted on his face.

"Ah, so you finally noticed." Aomine can hardly lift his foot but still tried to show Kuroko the chains. In return, Kuroko walked closer, as if to examine the said metal.

"What is that for?" He asked feeling genuinely troubled. The chains seriously looked like they were heavy and it already felt painful to Kuroko's eyes.

"What are chains for exactly?" Aomine asked back. Walking towards his bed and sat down, he dragging the chains with him. He sighed heavily and by hearing that, Kuroko had come to the conclusion that he truly didn't like the sound of it.

"You don't look like a prisoner." Kuroko replied, sending Aomine a worried look. He returned it with an indifferent stare. Aomine's smooth, tanned skin glowed in the candle's light and his bangs casted shadow over his eyes. Under that veil, those very same eyes were suddenly jaded.

"I'll take that as a compliment. Because in fact… I am a prisoner."

"You don't…" Kuroko once again threw a look on the chain. "…have that when we first met. You were on the tree. You're _free_."

Aomine winced at the last word. "Your head is always above the clouds, Kuroko. Don't say such things that can make me regret coming in here. I really don't like to make you carry a huge burden."

"What do you mean?"

"What do you want to know?"

Aomine sighed again, his fist clenching and unclenching. "This is not the reunion I'd like to have with you. Actually, I_ don't_ even want to meet you again." Aomine added, swinging his restrained foot slowly, producing faint clunky sound. There was a smirk on his lips. Kuroko felt bad for some reason. "But I can't let you die either. And that brought us together on this unexpected rendezvous and contradicted my lifetime resolution." Aomine grinned sadly at him, teeth all white and sparkly. He has fangs too; Kuroko couldn't help but notice that despite their current situation.

"Based on how you refer it, it seemed like I did something to offend you." It was almost a whisper because Kuroko was afraid that if he raised his voice, Aomine would… he didn't know, attack him? Perhaps. This conversation gave that kind of feeling.

"Offend me?" Aomine repeated, with a hint of sarcasm. "Oh no, not at all. Although, it really has something to do with you."

"Can I say that I am not afraid to know why?"

"Tetsu, your bravery is remarkable, I suppose. But you've always been so naïve, has anyone ever told you that?" Aomine suddenly broke the tense atmosphere which made Kuroko felt somewhat stupefied. Was he really serious? But then again, it wasn't that normal to see a guy with glowing tails; moreover, what attacked him earlier— he was certain that Aomine knows who or _what _was it.

"Remember that day when I stopped appearing to you?" Aomine asked. Kuroko nodded, resting his back against the wall. "Well, it's because I found out that you are a human."

"Isn't that quite obvious?"

"No, it isn't. And as a kid, you are pretty stupid, Tetsu. Who talks to a suspicious looking boy who's living in a tree with tails? Only you. For a week, you kept on pestering me."

"It paid off though. But when you finally talked, you suddenly disappeared, too."

"And so did you."

The silence happened.

"I have my reasons." Kuroko said, eyes directed on his shoes as if they were the most interesting thing that he saw. This was his defense mechanism.

"Just so you know, I hate humans and you are associated with them. They killed my mum." Aomine said. "See? I have a reason too. But I never left, I just avoided any kind of contact from you, unlike what you did… you were gone."

"I'm sorry about your mum."

"You don't have to apologize. It'd been hundreds of years since then and don't try to change the subject."

"I am not." Kuroko drawled, wanting to ask what he meant by 'hundreds of years', but that would make Aomine accuse that he's changing the subject again. "My mum died too, that day. So I have to move. Everything happened so suddenly and that's why I stopped visiting your tree. It's not like I forgot."

"Oh…"

"_So we're both orphans." _was the sentence left unsaid.

"Anyway…" Aomine started yet again after a long pause. "This is only the beginning of the _Things That You Still Don't Know."_

"I'm old enough now so I can tell that you aren't human." Kuroko started when Aomine stopped speaking, as though he gave Kuroko the chance to ask. "What are you?"

"_I should be the one asking you that." _Aomine thought.

He wanted to ask Kuroko about his wings but… he figured out that even Kuroko… really couldn't see them. It would be troublesome to explain something that even he didn't quite understand himself.

"And what about the _things_ that attacked me earlier?" was the added question.

"Well first off, I'm a cat."

"Oh. That explains the tail but that is not actually the answer that I've been expecting. I believe you could be more_… specific_."

"I'm half cat and half— as much as I want to deny it, half human-something. I don't know. We are often referred to as demon cats but truthfully we are called 'nekomata'—demons that are believed to have developed from a domestic cat. After ten years of age, the cat's tail would split into two, and it would develop powers of necromancy and shamanism which of course… that I lack, since just like what's I've said, I am not a full Nekomata. That explains why I only have a single tail too." He shrugged, obviously not pleased with his own answer. "I have no cat ears though but I can float, if no one is looking. Just like this 'Cheshire Cat' humans have."

Kuroko smiled a bit at the reference but kept it hidden "And here I thought you're a fox. You know, just like those tales about Kyuubi."

"They are not just tales, a Kyuubi is real, Kuroko. They raised me when my mum died. And personally, I think they are way cooler than me."

"Your tails are cool though, the blue color gives off a pleasant feeling."

"Right." Aomine didn't know if it was a compliment but he has decided to ignore it. "Your attackers are called 'Tsuchigumo'. They looked like huge spiders and are capable of shape-shifting which explains why you probably felt fingers chocking you. Not only do they love humans but once they build a nest on a human body, their number may increase rapidly. You're lucky they haven't got you. Not yet."

"And I didn't even see anything." Kuroko muttered. "Since I can see you, why can't they be visible in my eyes?"

"That…" Aomine sighed. "…is something beyond my knowledge. I wonder about that too."

Kuroko was silenced by this, thinking of what Aomine meant. In return, Aomine patted the free space beside him with his tails, motioning Kuroko to have a seat.

"Don't think so deeply, you might not be able grasp everything all at once." As his sentence met the end, Kuroko was already seated beside him, seeking understanding from the body heat of the cat boy. It might have sounded absurd, but as of this moment, Kuroko felt everything rushing in, because Aomine was only thing he had from the past, he thought he had abandoned everything already, but here he was, talking to a fragment of his childhood— probably the worst phase on his life. And he just saved him today.

"I actually followed you." Aomine eyes were staring at a distance— an expanse of darkness lurking around the room. "I never left that tree ever since my guardians died. The Kyuubi I was talking about, she also died. Ten years ago, I felt kind of unusually guilty for disappearing so suddenly when we were talking and I thought I might have offended by doing so, that's why you never came back and visited me."

"The Kyuubi said the world is a dangerous place. Humans are cruel. They were selfish and irrational. And to prove that, they killed my mum in past. So I grew up hating them. But then you came, and it was just… entirely different, you're just so… _dumb,_ no offense okay? It really didn't look like you could do any harm. Plus, you can see me, not everyone can, in fact you're the first one who did… so I thought we really could be friends. But you disappeared before I realize these things."

"That was rather unexpected." Kuroko admitted. "I thought you hated me." The memory from ten years ago was blurred to him… but the more Aomine talk about it, the more his memory refreshes. Even remembering the unwanted part of it.

"Please refrain from being flattered. Just because I felt like that in the past doesn't mean that I still do right now." Aomine furrowed his brows, snapping his eyes at him for a second.

"Ah sorry. Okay."

"Do you believe in fate, Kuroko?"

There was another silence since the boy in question wasn't exactly sure how he would answer that. He didn't want to say words that might offend Aomine.

"Maybe." He then said. "Since we met again, I will take chances on believing with that so-called fate."

Aomine smirked slyly, eyes softening for a split second before diminishing his delighted expression. "A fair answer." He muttered and sighed.

"So… as I was saying, I left the tree and followed your scent. This house, I ended up in here. And I actually saw you. But there was something off. You couldn't see me anymore. Curious, I stayed by your side for a while, thinking that you'll eventually see me again. Until you were brought to this attic. You remember that time, don't you? When you broke that vase."

Kuroko could only nod, not wanting to speak. He perfectly remembered that time. The darkness, the tears and the terror.

"During that time, it seemed like you saw me." Aomine looked at him. "But you got so freaked out. You started crying and crying. I tried to spoke to you but it seemed like that more I try, the more scared you get. And after that…"

"Oh! So… you're the voice that I heard?" He asked, vaguely remembering the hollow voice from ten years ago.

"Like I said… perhaps that was me."

As if Aomine existed in a distinct way Kuroko could not.

A smile escaped his lips, an unusual reaction— genuine and honest. "I really have no idea, though I did see this sort of yellowish eye blinking at me but that was only for a swift moment."

"You saw me… and have mistaken me for a monster. Well technically speaking, in a human's perception, I am indeed a monster, aren't I?"

Kuroko gave Aomine a sheepish grin. That's a yes.

"I knew it." He sighed, the chains on his feet clunk. "When you were free from this attic, I was left behind. I can't go out— not through the door or through the window and before I knew it, when the night came, this chain was already attached to my ankle. They can only be seen when the sun is down."

It was cold inside the attic. Much colder than what Kuroko had expected. They had been talking for a while now but the rust and the sound and the gleam of Aomine's chain seemed to be enjoying the little fiasco of coldness in Kuroko's nerves. He hated it, hated seeing someone restrained because it reminded him of many things.

"Is there a way to remove that?"

"You mean the chains?"

Kuroko nodded. "Yes, and moreover, I want to see you free. Again."

"I appreciate your concern but if you're doing this out of pity, then you better not try to help me."

"I wouldn't call it pity if I were you. Besides, you just told me, indirectly, that it is my fault why you're here."

"_A human… cannot free me and survive."_ Aomine muttered, too softly for Kuroko to hear.

"Oh. Very clever." He said instead. "You noticed?"

Kuroko sighed. "It won't take a genius to figure that out." A pause. "So what should I do? Surely, there's a way to release you."

"Surely, you say? I don't even know how this thing…" Aomine swayed the chains a bit. "...got attached on me in first place. How am I supposed to know?"

Five minutes later, Kuroko found himself leaving the attic— hesitant but with a reason. He almost forgot about the dinner party and without doubt, his uncle wouldn't be just mad, he'd be reaaaaaaaally mad. Not that Kuroko cared anymore by the way. If he's to lock him up the attic, Kuroko found no reason to be afraid again. In fact, he wants to see the cat boy and find a way to release him on the vague imprisonment.

"You sure it's going to be okay?" He asked Aomine, one leg down on the ladder. The candle with bluish fire was held by Aomine's tail, wrapped securely so it would not fall and cause additional noise. He brought it close to his chest and made Kuroko see his face much clearer, casting shadow of long eyelashes on his tanned cheeks the lacks the color of life.

"For now, yes." Aomine said. "Just go back first. Your bald…" A snicker. "…uncle might be looking for you now. I mean… I won't be able to leave this place by the way so feel free to find a _reason_ to visit me." Kuroko nodded, taking another step down the ladder and continued until he reached the carpeted floor. The light of the moon seemed to glimmer when it found Kuroko's presence, as if it wanted to paint the boy silver. He looked up at the attic's tiny square entrance and was pleased to see that Aomine was still on the lookout. There was a faint smile on the boy's lips as he closed the wooden door, leaving Kuroko with the thought that perhaps, Aomine, wasn't that lonely alone in the attic, despite being trapped for almost ten years.

"Tetsuya!" He heard Akashi's voice from the other side of the hallway and quickly turned around to meet the said boy.

"Akashi…" He looked at his cousin's face, the color was drained from it. "What's the matter?"

In return, the younger boy almost snapped at him. "Uncle was furious. Where the hell have you been _**last night?**_! You're aware that we're the host for the dinner of the enti—"

"Last night?" Kuroko repeated, face incredulous at his cousin's words. "The dinner is just starting." He said. "And I am just on my way to the hall. I might be late for ten or twenty minutes but nothing as exaggerated as what you're talking about."

"If twenty minutes is your new term for twenty damned hours, then yes dear cousin, it must really be twenty minutes!" Akashi shouted, forgetting that he's actually talking to a person older than him and that he just cussed out loud. He rarely does that, especially not in front of Kuroko— whom he treated like a brother.

"Do you have any idea what I've gone through last night? Uncle was so furious that he forced me to attend the goddamn dinner despite the claim that I am already an outcast from the family!" Akashi added, his hands were clenching into fists and unclenching, fingernails digging into his palms. "I was laughed at, humiliated and ridiculed. God, I was so mad I just want to_ cut_ them all. You know that might happen... why did you disappeared last night? Where did you even go?"

"I..." Kuroko was confused, Aomine owe him much more explanation. He swallowed as the weight of the situation donned on him.

But then, he thought... alhtough Akashi could be bit harsh, he's actually kind, so Kuroko was certain he'd believe in him if he told him about Aomine, but since he was so kind, Kuroko's also sure that Akashi would feel bad... because this kid cared for him so much. It might be selfish, but Kuroko didn't like it. He wanted his cousin to always be smiling.

"I was just…" His breath was getting cold. "I am so sorry Akashi, I didn't mean to leave last night." He lied. "I just felt so suffocated with everything Uncle wants me to do so I abandoned the dinner. I honestly didn't expect him to pick you as a substitute." He walked closer to his cousin and patted him on the head. Luckily, Akashi didn't flinch from the touch. "I'm sorry. It won't happen again. I promise."

That night, Kuroko spend the night losing sleep. He almost lost his mind, he thought… but he didn't. Because everything was real. Aomine with his chains were still at the attic and it turned out that he really missed the planned dinner; he really had gone missing for twenty hours. The undeniably terrible guilt was eating up his train of thoughts. Akashi got a few bruises form the dinner, it seemed like their Uncle had beaten him up because of how frustrated he was when Kuroko was supposed to be at the dinner— why you ask?

Because Kuroko, despite the fact the he was an orphan, with no glorious family background whatsoever, was a scholar, smart and admired by a few bachelorettes that shared his age… ladies from known families. And those were the people who had come for him on the party last night. Unlike Akashi who's still a kid— rejected by the family, lanky and very mean, their Uncle currently sees him as a good investment. He wanted to tell Akashi that once he grows up, Uncle might treat him better— even with the ulterior motives. Oh the sickening minds of the adults. Ugly.

* * *

"Good Morning, Kuroko."

A friend from the local café greeted him after opening the door, the chimes fixed on it ringing like xylophones in a festive parade. With a cheeky smile, dark Asian eyes and thin lips, he offered Kuroko an uncharacteristically warm welcome. He's usually mean with Kuroko too, but then again, he just likes to bicker with the other boy too.

"Good day to you too, Sire." Kuroko replied, sitting down in front of the counter, the bags under his eyes were as dark as his unpolished shoes.

Taiga Kagami was his name; he's a guy who a year older than Kuroko but is definitely much more capable of doing chores that requires strength. Crimson hair that's usually styled in spikes was his frequent hairstyle, although at one time, Kuroko saw him with a hair that he can associate with Lasagna, but that was back when they were still not acquainted with each other. Probably three years ago, if he wasn't mistaken.

"You read too much books; stop talking like you're from the eighteenth-something century, it gives me the creeps." He replied with an outspoken voice. "The usual order? French toast, buttered salmon and—"

"I just need coffee."

Kagami paused on wiping the glasses, giving Kuroko a '_you-can't-be-serious-it's-the-end-of-the-world_' look.

"Coffee." Kuroko repeated.

"You _don't_ drink coffee." Kagami deadpanned. "Last time you did was when Akashi got missing while we're playing on the cave near the beach and that was like… a year ago."

"I'm surprised you can remember something so complex but forget the simple ones like that I am a customer right now and that you, as an employee, have to serve me. I need coffee, Kagami."

"It just means that I care!" He _pouted_. "As a friend, you know."

"Yes, thank you Kagami but I'd really appreciate it if you'd just give me a nice cup of coffee."

"Fine." He surrendered with a frown but brew the coffee anyway. Soon enough the roasted smell of beans and silent sound from the machine filled the entire place— or at least that was what Kuroko would like to think. Because on the back of his head, he can still hear the sound of dragging chains that were attached on Aomine's ankle, grinding its friction with the ground in a menacing manner. Even so, he still have to help the cat boy. If what he was saying was true, then it would truly be Kuroko's fault why Aomine was stuck on the attic.

How did it end up like this anyway? Back then, everything was so pure.

Ten years ago, Kuroko just wanted to be friends with Aomine.

"How did some people with good intentions end up doing the most terrible things?"

"Uh, what are you talking about, Kuroko?"

Kuroko blinked and blinked again. "Did I say that out loud?"

"Apparently, yes."

"Oh." He took a sip on the coffee that was served. Kagami leaned on the counter, resting his face on his palm and stared at Kuroko, more like… to examine his face.

"I'll answer that." He said. When Kuroko looked at him curiously, Kagami can't help but sigh. "Your question, I mean."

"Enlighten me then, since you heard it already."

"I say… people with extremely strong desires often forget about those around them, until the desires are fulfilled. Yet it is because they are so single-minded that their desires are so strong. Unfortunately, this same single mindedness hurts the people they care about."

Kuroko's coffee seemed to be forgotten on the table the time Kagami finished his self-explanation. _"I might have to rethink of my first impression on this guy."_ He thought.

"Thanks."

"Woah. Never thought you'd say that."

"Shut up, Kagami."

* * *

**This is quite a long read, I noticed.**

**Review please! Thank you for reading.**


	3. the search

_thank you for the favs and follows ;)_

* * *

**the search;**

* * *

After the first time Kuroko visited Aomine, he had been more cautious of his surrounding, less paranoid but more awkward. After what Akashi told him , of how he had been gone for hours when it was just minutes in the attic, Kuroko had also grown both suspicious and unworldly towards Aomine himself. Today would be his second visit to the tailed boy. Three days have passed.

At ten o'clock in the evening, Kuroko found himself sitting in Aomine's bed— which surprised him since it seemed like the bed hadn't gotten old—creaky but just… _weak_, as if the bed itself was alive and that the whole attic was breathing. Aomine was sitting by the window, catching fireflies with his eyes, waiting for Kuroko to talk since he has no intention of opening up any topic. It was Kuroko who visited anyway. Just like the old times.

"I need a drastic change in my life." Kuroko suddenly said and Aomine shot him a look full of suspicion.

"Shouldn't I be the one who have to wish for something like that?"

"I see." He said, "You are mad about something."

Aomine's tail illuminated through the darkness.

"Mad? You didn't show your face for _three_ days." There was a hard feeling on his words.

"I thought I could visit whenever I want to?"

"I was just being polite, you dumbass. Of course I didn't mean it! You have to visit the attic _every day._"

"Visit the attic, or visit you?"

"Both! Good god, do you even know how irritating you are at the moment?" But before Kuroko could answer that one... "Apparently, NO. And that makes me more irritated."

"You don't need be so upset. I know you want to be released from those chains. I even feel guilty just by breathing here."

_"I don't know, Kurokochi. With my age, it's getting difficult to trust people."_

Kuroko raised an eyebrow "Kurokochi?"

There was a slight but sudden movement in the attic_, _the walls shook for a second and had gone before Kuroko could process what had happened, _an_ _earthquake_? he thought. But that didn't really trouble him, what felt odd was…

"Cut the crap, Kise. I didn't get old."

A voice, very much similar to Aomine spoke.

"What…" Kuroko leaned closer to source of the voice— which was surprisingly very near him, he tried standing up from the bed he was sitting at but all he felt was the pillow as he fell on top of it. In a flash, another boy was above him, pinning him to the bed. It seemed like he jumped down from the ceiling, just like Spiderman. He became still, and not long after, Kuroko was released from the hold. Aching, he sat up from the bed.

"Tetsu, you are so easy to fool." He heard Aomine speaking, and when he opened his eyes, there were already two people looking at him. Of course there was Aomine, but the other one… the tall one who wore a normal high school uniform looked tremendously unfamiliar to him. His haired was blonde, with his deep round eyes carrying a blue shade. A human… or at least, that was what he looked like at the moment. "Couldn't you even tell that that _wasn't_ me?"

"So this is Kurokochi, eh?" The young man said, a hint of true mischievousness written all over his face; a smirk dancing through his parted lips.

"And what do I owe you for this visit?" Aomine asked the student, an air of familiarity settled upon the two of them.

"I'm Kise." Said the boy, pulling out a hand from his pocket for a handshake. Kuroko stared at it and then to Aomine. The tanned boy had a lack of reaction so Kuroko took Kise's hand and shook it.

"Uh… nice to meet you?"

"Nice to meet you too and sorry for tricking you earlier. I have a habit of copying Aomine's _hideous_ appearance."

"Oi idiot, answer me when I'm talking to you," Aomine complains, "And what do you mean by hideous?"

"Oh Aominechi's mad. Perhaps we should stop ignoring him now."

"How did you know about Aomine?"

As those words fell from Kuroko lips, Aomine and Kise stopped bickering and looked at him with measuring stares. They both shook their heads and Kise seemed troubled— frowning as he did so. He just met Kise, who has the ability to change his appearance, Aomine who has a blue glowing tail—definitely out of this world and yet Kuroko remained calm.

"Told you he's always unfazed."

"Crazy, you mean."

"That too."

"And weird."

"Yeah."

"I am right in front of you, you know."

"Kise's a human, by the way. Perfectly normal." Aomine announced to him, "But he can change his appearance, transform his face."

"_And you're saying that he's a human…"_ Kuroko muttered when the words 'transform his face' sunk in on his mind. But then again, everything associated with Aomine was strange; this guy was probably included on the _Things That You Still Don't Know About_ cluster.

"I met him after I was confided in here." Aomine started. "I think he was hired to clean the attic— everyone else backed out, but this guy's the only one who took the job. Surprisingly, he was able to see me."

"I thought he's just a huge stuff toy but when I tried to put him in a box, he bit my hand."

"You touched my butt, you ingrate. That's harassment."

"I was _**lifting**_ you." Kise deadpanned.

"Whatever." Aomine rolled his eyes. "He lives on the light house near the cave— by the beach, if you know where that is."

"I know that." Kuroko nodded, remembering the day Akashi got lost on the cave but he didn't say that out loud. "But the light house was… abandoned, right? No one lives in there." His eyes found Kise's. And when he stared at them, he can see the water swirling… he shook his head.

"It's not that no one lives in there, you guys are just clueless. I'm surprised no one had ever noticed me exc—" Kise stopped, his word left hanging in mid-air. "E-except for Aomine." He continued. In return, Aomine looked at him unbelievably, almost glaring but just sighed in the end.

"Yes, of course, except for me."

"But I thought you can't leave the attic," Kuroko asked, brows furrowed together.

"During full moons, I can. Didn't I mention that last time?"

"No, you didn't."

"Oh… my bad. I guess I forgot." He stuck his tongue out.

"It's not even funny." Kuroko snapped, annoyed. "And here, I was so worried and guilty; I thought you can't leave the attic at all and it's my entire fault."

Aomine suddenly got quiet and Kise sensed the heaviness of the situation. "Geez." He tapped Kuroko's shoulder and forced him to sit on the bed again.

"Life is full of secrets and lies, Kurokochi. So when you get screwed over, don't act surprised. Although, Aomine might have reasons…" He shot Aomine a look of knowing and the latter caught that.

Aomine glared.

"_Don't Kise."_ His tail waved furiously. _"Just shut the hell up." _He mouthed and he knew Kise understood that even without the sound of words.

Reluctant and helpless, Kise sighed as to feign his defeat.

"I just want to release him from here." Kuroko muttered lowly, casting sideway glances at Aomine who remained determinedly quiet.

"I know." Kise told him. As an outsider to this matter, this was not his problem and it shouldn't be enough to concern him. The problem, rather, was that he seeks for something that Kuroko has and without him, it would be impossible for Kise to achieve. So he chose to get involve but he would remain as quiet as he could for the objective he was carrying must remain hidden. He smiled.

"I am aware of the situation, Aominechi told me everything." He said as Kuroko gave him a curios look, more concerned at the -chi he always adds on their names. _He really is innocent_, Kise thought and doubted if Kuroko was really the person Aomine often talked about. "And I am here to help you out."

The faint moonlight escaping from the window lit Aomine from the left, falling across his face and tracing the delicate curve of his forehead and nose. The air then shifted. The window was left slightly open— enough space for them to smell the expanding fresh air that carried plenty of moisture. It was raining hard above. Aomine shivered.

Before continuing their conversation, Kuroko got up from his seat and closed the said window. Drawing the curtains down, Kise gave him a questioning look yet even without being answered, his eyes softened, unnoticed.

"I just…" Kuroko stuttered. "I just thought Aomine might dislike the rain since… he's a cat." He said slowly afterwards. There was something intimate about his manner of speech that others could not hear.

"Your concern is much appreciated." Aomine said to him, too formal that Kuroko had to wonder if he was being sarcastic or not. Too bad the small smile on the latter's lips was too serene for Kuroko to notice.

A branch with green leaves still attached smacked into the window. A gust of wind followed, and its roar resonated for some time. Almost without thinking, Aomine winced at the sound.

"Alright." Kise broke the seemingly awkward atmosphere. "Apparently… we are dealing with things called Ayakashi—mysterious, inhuman entities, invisible to the vast majority of people living today. There are many types of these spirits, from those that possess people to those that possess objects and buildings, even those who take the form of human beings and animals. One of them is a certain creature called _'Okami'_."

At the mention of the name, Aomine's eyebrows furrowed.

_"Okami?" _Kuroko repeated as he sat himself down on Aomine's bed. Aomine sat on the floor, his tails on his lap, as the three of them formed a mini circle; the usual never-melting candles that burned with blue flames illuminated the most part of the attic.

"The Japanese calls her the goddess of the sun. Usually, she takes the form of a huge wolf and lives on a spiritually powerful mountain; significantly higher in rank than simple spooks and goblins."

"So," Kuroko says, "you're saying that she is real too?"

"Unfortunately, yes. And for some reason… she was also sealed on this very attic." Kuroko didn't miss the lack of enthusiasm on Kise's explanation.

"Was?" He asked.

Kise shrugged. "We don't know the exact details but it is certain that she was once confined in here for a very long time. When your great, great, great grandfather bought this house, he sort of put random spells, wards, and seals around the whole place, without even knowing what they were for. I think it's kind of a trend back then anyway." Kise smirked, seemingly amused at the idea. "With that, he had accidentally trapped the goddess on his attic and of course, your grandpa had no idea of that— after all he can't see the likes of _Okami_. You know, _unnatural beings_. And Aomine here…" Kise turned to him. "Would you like to continue the story instead?"

Kuroko wanted to ask how Kise knows about these but Aomine sighed rather loudly and continued where Kise left of . His face was etched with extreme reluctance though and his pair of yellow feline eyes remained unblinking. He fixed his gaze to Kuroko, and just then, his eyes grew calm like the surface of a cold ocean and Kuroko could feel no emotions on them. They were very quiet eyes.

"I already told you the part when I followed you, right?"

For a moment, Kuroko felt like he would get sucked into Aomine's eyes. He averted his gaze and looked down, Kuroko could only nod.

"Well I'm sorry for not telling you in the first place, I kind of lied last time too. Don't get mad, I know you have the right to know but I just don't want to talk about it. Well, listen now okay? Here's the detailed version of it."

He drew a deep breath. Kise rolled his eyes. He sort of gets annoyed when Aomine wants to be serious.

"Okami, she's a real awful goddess by the way, you have to remember that— she transferred her imprisonment curse on me. Ten years ago, when we were at the attic, she saw me and I saw her. Just like my current state, she has a chain but it was attached on her neck instead, more like a leash since she's on her wolf form. Apparently, she was strong enough to transfer the curse but not powerful enough to break the spell entirely which leads us to the current situation."

Kuroko couldn't help but think, he wasn't familiar with this kind of well… _peculiarity._ Quite a bizarre condition yet on the back of his mind, someone was telling him that this was all real. After all, didn't he once think that reality usually depresses him? And that he needed fantasy worlds and escape on them?

"There is a way to unlock the chain though." Kise, after staying quiet for a while, spoke. "Okami only appears during summer. If you can see Aominechi, then there's a high possibility that you might be able to see Okami too. You can see me when I changed appearance, right? Usually when I do that, normal people would not be able to see me at all— it's like I disappear completely. Yet you did. I know there are human who are spiritual enough to see the ayakashi, but they are very rare nowadays. ou might even attract Okami at this point."

"Attract her?"

"She fancies young men who can see her wolf form and once you laid your eyes on her, she will be able to sense it. She will come to you too, eventually. It will be an easy task to find her."

"Sounds like a plan." _Tetsu is too calm for this,_ Aomine though. "Then Kuroko asked, "How will I know if she's near?"

"You'll hear a song. Do you know the Nursery Rhyme of Another Summer?"

Kuroko shook his head. The rain continued to pour down. Aomine once again fought a shiver down his spine.

"It's a very distinct music piece. You'll just know it is that the moment it begins playing. When I first saw her, I heard it clearly in my head too. It starts off with the sound of children laughing." Aomine told him, eyes hovering over one of the lit candles, blue flames scorching. _Then you'll see the memory of the worst thing that had ever happened in your life,_ was the sentence left unsaid.

"The louder the song is… the farther Okami is to you. The weaker it sounds… the nearer she is." Aomine continued. "She uses this to trick humans; she feeds on them by the way. Especially during full moons."

Kuroko's heart soar a beat higher at the thought, somehow it scared him, and the fear seeped on to the depths of his being. His bones creaked and shrieked each time he thinks about it.

"W-why didn't I see Okami back then?" He asked Aomine. "Ten years ago, I was at the attic too, and I can see you."

"You didn't see me, right?" There's a quick flicker of sadness on Aomine's eyes that Kuroko failed to notice. "You momentarily stopped seeing me. I don't know how it happened but I guess it was good thing you didn't laid your eyes on that beast."

"Since Okami is the only one who knows how to break Aomine's chain, it's inevitable not to seek for her _guidance_." Kise said casually, as if the whole talk about Okami and her bad man-hunting habits were nothing to him. "There's still a month before summer starts though."

"Are you really human, Kise?" Kuroko asked then, growing suspicious of why he knew all about this… when he's just a mere human, wasn't that what Aomine said? Well, Kuroko himself is a human too… but that's not the case in here.

Kise blinked and blinked again, a soft chuckle escaped from his lips.

"I knew there are lots of reasons why you asked me that but believe me, I am only a human… just like you." He said as if to emphasize his last word. _"You..."_

"Fine." Kuroko had said nothing more.

"Aren't you going to ask?"

"Not really. I just figured out that it is none of my business. Human or not, you are still going to help me, right?"

"Glady."

"But seriously Kurokochi," Kise almost whines, "Why would you even try and help Aominechi? I mean, it's dangerous enough to threaten your life and no offense… you guys are nothing but childhood friends, right?"

"It's _because_ we are friends that I am doing this." He made sure Aomine could hear this. "Isn't that reason enough?"

Just as those words parted from his lips, Aomine sunk on the floor; his back hitting the hard surface and was just looking at the roof of the attic wherein his chain was linked. It creaked as he moved his foot. He was trying to conceal a smile and failed. Both Kise and Kuroko stared at him.

"Didn't I tell you, Kise? He's as crazy as hell."

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_Reviews will be greatly appreciated :3_


	4. visiting kise

**A/N: **Thanks to the guest who left that splendid comment yesterday, you absolutely made my day :) And to TheAnimeHannah, thank you so much :D

* * *

**Disclaimer: **I'll figure out how to steal them from Tada-sensei. I'm working on it.

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**visiting kise;**

* * *

"You were up all night, weren't you?" Akashi asked his cousin as he folded Kuroko's blanket and made his bed. Normally he wouldn't do this, but this offered a perfect excuse for him to talk to Kuroko.

"Of course… not." Kuroko yawned. "Why would I stress myself like that?"

Akashi rolled his eyes. "You get bags easily under your eyes."

Kuroko bit his lip.

He's been losing sleep for a week now, always sneaking out in the middle of the night to visit Aomine at the attic. Although they've talked for several minutes only… it seemed like time goes ten times faster inside the attic compared to the normal flow of the clock. A minute is equivalent to an hour.

"I was just reading a book." He lied and Akashi remained unconvinced. Kuroko's books were gathering dusts on their shelves for a week now, idle and waiting to be read by its owner. And judging from the position of his room at the moment, anyone could tell that Kuroko was nowhere near the status of being orderly.

For the second time that day, Akashi gave him a look of utter disbelief; Kuroko felt that too and ignored it.

"You're hiding something, aren't you?"

"What could I possibly hide?"

"I don't know." Akashi shrugged indifferently. "But I'm certain that it's important enough for you to sneak out of your room every night and sacrifice your sleep. Do you really think I wouldn't notice?"

Kuroko slowly folded the sleeves of his shirt, ready to leave for the bathroom.

"You're overthinking, Akashi. Why don't you trust me a bit?"

And with those soft-spoken words, Kuroko left the room with a slight guilt hovering over his heart. He knew it was an unsettled business— he knew Akashi would still ask, and it would be harder to lie.

* * *

Later that afternoon, rather than spending his time studying, Kuroko made an unexpected trip to the beach, dragging Kagami along with him despite of the short notice given to the latter.

"The manager's going to kill me for skipping work…" Kagami muttered under his breath, a frown graced his lips as his feet follow Kuroko's tracks.

"She's not going to kill you if you tell her that you're with me." Stepping to another steep rock on the shore, Kuroko absent-mindedly answered the boy's earlier complain. His eyes were focused on the old light house on the end of the shore, standing tall before the humongous waves that clashes against the equally big but sheer mountain of rocks.

"Don't be so cocky. Just because she fancies you a bit doesn't mean that she'll let me off easily." Was Kagami's immediate reply, balancing his body over several planks of woods that have drifted from the water to the coasts. "Where are we going anyway? It's unusual for you to visit the beach."

Kuroko remained silent. He was going to visit Kise; that is, if Kise really resides on the said light house, just like what he told him several nights ago. If Kagami can see him, then Kise _must _really be a human— and that would make him owe Kuroko another explanation as to how he changes his appearance despite the claim that he is just an earthly man. Although Kuroko said that it was none of his business, the burning desire of his mind to find out who the real Kise was had remained dominating.

"Oi if you don't answer me, I am going to go back." Kagami threatened but still took another step closer to Kuroko whose feet seemed to travel faster because of his thoughts. Taken a back, since Kagami would be an essential help to his objective, he merely sighed and answered.

"I am going to visit a friend, but we were not so close so I thought that by bringing you with me, you could liven up the atmosphere so it will be easier for us to talk." He reasoned out, on purposely making Kagami's presence sound so important— on which the said boy had taken a liking to. He never thought that the day wherein Kuroko would genuinely ask for his help and praise him would actually come.

Oblivious to Kuroko masked flattery, Kagami's smile grew wider and wider as they reach the front of the said light house. A rather rusty door welcomed them, chucks of paint scrapping off from the wall were very much visible too, and giving hint on how old the structure could be.

Dusting off the imaginary dirt on his pants and shoulder, Kuroko took steps forward and was just about to knock at the door when it suddenly opened. Kagami and Kuroko were hereby met by a rather flabbergasted Kise. Or so they guessed since it was so obvious that Kise just faked his surprise.

_Of course he is expecting us,_ Kuroko thought. _He knew we're here the moment we stepped our feet on the beach._

Kuroko didn't know where he got that conclusion but his guts were telling him that it was the right assumption to think.

"This is unexpected!" Kise turned to Kuroko with starry excited eyes. "You actually visited me instead of going to Aomine's place!"

Kagami arched a brow at the mention of Aomine's name and wondered what kind of relationship he has with Kuroko. The way Kise spoke about it, it was like this Aomine guy, whoever he is, was an important person to his friend. That was what unexpected is.

Kuroko frowned. Why didn't he considered the chance that Kise will talk about Aomine in front of Kagami, the guy obviously knew nothing about his current situation and Kuroko hadn't think about telling it to anyone, he even lied to Akashi just to hide it yet here was Kise, absent-mindedly revealing everything.

Kuroko faked a cough to stop Kise from blabbering further and it worked.

"This is Kagami," He softly said to him, Kagami immediately paid appropriate attention—smiling lightly at the taller boy. "And Kagami, this is—"

"Just someone that Kuroko knows!" Kise cut him off. Kise gave them a small bow although he was dead curious as to why Kuroko brought this guy with him.

"Uh… hi." Kagami greeted and smiled forcedly despite the weirdness in Kise's behavior, as if he wasn't curious as to why Kise lives on a freaking _light house_ that was supposed to be not functional and locked by the government already.

"Hello." Still inquisitive, Kise replied nonetheless. "It is nice to meet you_, Kuroko's friend_." But for some reason, he refused to call Kagami by his name— there was something about him that he didn't like and he was never a person to display hospitality to people he didn't even know anyway. Being rude to other people was something he wasn't bothered by.

Kagami twitched a brow, smile fading at the sudden discourtesy. "It's nice to meet you too, _Kuroko's other friend_." He emphasized his last words and gave him a tight hand squeeze for a handshake which, of course, caused pain on Kise's part. Both of them glared at each other afterwards.

_"Geez, what is his problem?"_ Kagami thought. Although offended, he had to hold back his rebellious side since he didn't want Kuroko to see it. He closed his eyes and calmed himself.

"Was it just me or the two you seemed to really _hate_ each other already?" Kuroko inquired, staring at them with seemingly troubled eyes. Actually he had already sensed the fierce atmosphere when Kise addressed Kagami as _"Kuroko's friend"_ earlier and as to why the boy had to act like that, he didn't have any idea.

"No." Kagami said almost instantly. "Of course not. It's just the manly way of greeting someone we've never met before." Was his lame excuse. "Right? _Kuroko's other friend_?" He turned to Kise with a fake smile.

In return, Kise had to roll his eyes at the absurdity but answered anyway "Yeah, if you say so."

Kuroko sighed but didn't pursue the topic any longer; it seemed like Kagami can see Kise which just proves that he was really a human. _Oh wait, it's too early to decide on that. Perhaps we should investigate a little more, _he thought.

"Well, are you going to come in?" Kise asked after a time of silence, sending Kuroko a look that requires immediate attention.

"Gladly." Kuroko then began walking and bowed as Kise led him inside

"But he has to stay outside." Kise suddenly said just as Kuroko was about to take off his shoes. Obviously, it was Kagami he was referring to.

"Why?" Kuroko asked.

Kise shook his head. "This place is_ not_ for him. He's not allowed to enter." He asked Kuroko to come closer and muttered to that to his ear, their shoulder slightly touching. "It's either that or just come back when he's not with you."

When there was no response, Kise patted Kuroko's shoulder.

"You're not hiding anything from me, are you?" Kuroko asked but before Kise could reply, Kagami's voice filled their ears.

"It's alright, Kuroko. It seemed like I am not welcomed in here anyway. I'll just…" he gaze drooped down. "…leave the two of you. See ya later, okay?" The sound of his shoes tapping against the cold pavement echoed and resounded with the waves; as he took the way back by carefully stepping on the mountain of rocks Kuroko and he have taken earlier, Kagami never looked back and it was only a matter of time when his figures grew smaller and smaller until they slipped into the shadows and were gone.

"You were _specifically_ rude at him." Kuroko noted after a moment, finally removing his shoes to enter Kise's house, was it even right to call it a _house_? With the sound of waves, and ocean breeze going in and out freely by the windows, the whole place felt like it was breathing.

The walls were painted yellow with no rooms, only a spiral stairs that goes up towards the top of the light house. There were also several sketches pasted on the one side of the room, lazily fixed against the wall with masking tapes—all colorless drawings of the sea, of the lighthouse and of the cave beside the latter but there was one drawing that Kuroko noticed to be hidden amongst the sea of papers, as if it was really meant to be concealed on purpose. He ignored it, thinking that he shouldn't nose around someone else's property.

They entire room looked dingy however the ground floor have basic furniture like a table, one wooden chair, an old sofa and a fairly decent bed with black sheets— no pillows by the way, just a futon. A small lamp was resting by one of the huge windows—right next to the bed. Yet what was surprisingly noticeable was that the entire room was actually filled with books, Kuroko haven't noticed it until his eyes landed on the floor—since there were no shelves or anything close to that, many piles of books were only lying on the wooden floor, tons and tons of them. His eyes glimmered with interest.

Kise's house was very quiet. It was hard to forget the sound of your own breath—going in, faltering out. Perhaps the kind of place that held no memories, a house that had no children, only full of nothing. The table had no mantel piece, no plates, no remnants of anything, no family too. Oh yes…

No family had lived in here.

"Your place is interesting." He told Kise, who's not at all conscious on how Kuroko perceives his room. "No kitchen?" Kuroko asked as his eyes traveled around.

"There was never a need for it."

"No bathroom either?" This time his tone was rather mocking.

"It's upstairs alright. And it's fully functional, just so you know although I usually take my baths somewhere else."

"Hmmm." Kuroko made a sound of acknowledgement as his hands found the metal railing of the stairs. "Can I go up?"

Something about this place had made him excited, he can smell the sea.

Kise nodded, seemingly exasperated. "Even if I say no, you'd still go anyway, Kurokochi."

Satisfied with his response, Kuroko grinned a bit, but said "Please don't call me _Kurokochi_" before taking the said stairs until he finally reached the top; panting as he tried to catch his breath—the stairs was unpredictably long, he realized. He was entirely happy though he supposed, completely forgetting about the thing about Kagami.

He loosely rested his arms by the rust covered railing, breathed deeply to take in the fresh air and salt water. And after that, he must have seen the sea—a strong sea under a hard white sky. His tresses danced as another soft breeze blew past his body and tickled the pores of his exposed skin.

Happiness for Kuroko was never something big. Right now, he was genuinely glad just by this.

As a set of slow footstep reached his ears—growing closer and closer, another presence had joined his little piece of pure bliss. The man beside him was taller by many centimeters, so Kuroko, even though he was older, felt unwantedly childish.

"Actually, this place is normal." Kise said as he tied his long bangs with a rubber band so that it wouldn't obscure his sight when the wind blew. Kuroko tilted his head at the statement.

"It's really alright for your friend to enter; I mean… this light house is never magical or dangerous unlike what I've made it sound earlier." He gave Kuroko a sheepish grin, but with his bangs tied up, the older boy couldn't help but laugh—Kise looked like a turnip.

However, Kise paid him no attention. "There's just something _off _about that friend of yours."

Hearing that, Kuroko stopped on his laugh. "He's _usually _normal." He said, pulling his jacket closer to himself.

Kise shook his head and shrugged, "I don't know. I just got that feeling. Anyway… why did you come in here?"

With a single glance, he threw Kuroko a serious face, lips pursed into a delicately thin line. The boy in question sighed.

"I was just making sure that you're really a human, so I brought my human friend with me to see if he can see you. It seems like you were telling the truth."

"That was rather rude. You actually… don't trust me?"

"Don't you know?"

"Alright. I lost." He made a quick halt, throwing his hands up as if to surrender. "Geez. I don't like how the youth today is opinionated and has a strong sense of justice."

"I'll be taking that as a compliment."

"I think you're curious about me, too." The taller boy said.

"You think? Or you knew?"

Kise smiled.

"Let me tell you about myself."

A swift breeze blew and played with the ends of Kise's blonde hair. He closed his eyes and let the air press itself against his skin. "I am not like Aominechi but I am not a human anymore… so I kind of lied to you too." He grinned at Kuroko apologetically.

"I was a human once, I remember being one. I've already told you about Okami's man-eating habits, right?"

Kuroko nodded, listening intently.

"Well, I was one of her victims. Supposedly, I am dead by now… but I was brave enough to make a deal with her. She'd let me live if I give her half of my soul and half of my memories. Given the situation I was in, it was the best offer so I accepted the deal. Okami took my childhood, from the time I was born up until I was eleven—and that's why I am in this situation right now. Since that memory was erased, I can't remember who my parents were, and they wouldn't remember me either. It was as if I wasn't even born in the first place. No records, no birthdate… my life started during my twelfth year of existence, and that's all I have at the moment. She took half of my soul so I couldn't die either. I can't even remember how long I've been like this. I'm like a lost ghost or something… but Okami was kind enough to let me have my body. That's why you can see, talk and touch me like I am really here. Like I'm really a human."

Kuroko fell silent. Somehow, it all made sense. That was why Kise was so indifferent when they were talking about Okami—because he'd dealt with her already. He probably lacked response right now, but Kuroko couldn't find the proper way to react. Should he feel sorry for Kise? Should he trust him completely now? Kuroko remained silent.

"But putting that aside, _what else,_ Kurokochi? Why did you come here for?"

The question seemed to strike Kuroko in many other ways. That didn't mind him so much. He liked to ask anyway, ask more about Aomine. Kise and he seemed pretty close after all.

He looked out at the wide, shifting sea, and just for a moment, he thought that he was missing something else, something so important—something that only Aomine knew about. It was just a hunch and he hoped that he was wrong. Did Okami have something to do with this too? He looked at his hands at the railings, and they were young. They were battered.

The sea had constantly reminded him of his late mother.

She drowned herself, didn't she?

How could a calm place like this possibly kill his mother?

"I just want to know more about Aomine." He finally said, shaking his earlier depressing thoughts. After all, he had decided to move on. But then again, even though everyone was telling him to forget about it, he didn't want to forget.

"I've known him since we were both little kids but I don't know everything about him. It was more like... I _can't _remember. Of what he looked like back then, of what was he really like aside from the snobbish exterior he has." There was a pause. "I just knew where and how we met but… other than that, there was nothing. I mean, how was that possible?"

"Forgetfulness is a form of freedom. Well, unlike me, you're a definite human. It has been ten years, how would you remember that?"

There was an odd comfort in Kise's words but if he agrees with that, it would mean that he was also giving up. If Aomine was really an important part of his childhood, how could he forget all about it? Just because it has been ten years already? That kind of reasoning was too weak to rely on. It even sounded pathetic now that Kuroko had pondered about it deeper. He didn't want it to become his defense mechanism—to say that he forgot because it was merely a long time ago. If that's so, then he should've forgotten about his mother's death too.

"It was _**only**_ ten years, Kise. And besides I'm already ten during that time, it should have been impossible for me not to remember."

"Apparently, it is possible. Memories are fleeting, you know."

"But—"

"Thinking too much can only cause problems. I thought you want to talk about Aominechi?"

"We are already talking about Aomine."

"No, we aren't. We're arguing about your theory of memories."

"Christ, why am I even talking to you?"

"Gee thanks. After all the hospitality I offered you…"

Kuroko grunted but did not feel guilty at all. It seemed like Kise could understand him but he was missing the big picture, he couldn't blame him though. Even Kuroko, himself could not understand what it was that he needs to remember. He was relentless, itching to know it. He just knew there was something… It never occurred to him until he met Aomine, for the past ten years, he didn't have any of these troubles.

And for that, he was very upset too.

* * *

Gah Kise's calm demeanor is killing me =)) Kagami's really obedient in here but Akashi? No, he's not! He's only kind when it comes to Kuroko and you know it.

Your reviews will help me a lot :)


	5. a bond of fate never disappears once tid

**_A bond of fate never disappears once tied;_**

* * *

The sun was almost down the horizon when Kuroko had decided to leave the lighthouse. They didn't talk about lots of things but it was not awkward of any kind, for they both knew that the silence between the two of them was familiar enough to feel at ease. Kise didn't walk him to the door and Kuroko was not at all bothered by it. Before stepping outside, his eyes fell on the layers of drawings pasted on the wall across the room—a window was left open, and as if to help Kuroko's curiosities to be answered, a soft wind blew and touched the said sketches, it was strong enough to flip the first layers and had reveal the paper being hidden below it.

It was only for a swift moment but Kuroko was already sure that he knew what was drawn on that piece of paper, of WHO was drawn on it rather. He had not taken the hobby of painting or anything that is associated with art—but even with human naked eyes, it was purely obvious that Kise was good with his hands; otherwise Kuroko wouldn't be able to recognize the portrait he saw.

It was _Akashi_, drawn with what seemed like charcoal and light touches of watercolour. The colors were applied very lightly, carefully, but because the other drawings spread across were all in monochrome, it stood out once seen, like a rose among thorns and leaves. His cousin's face looked momentarily real that Kuroko wanted to reach out and touch it with his bare hands.

If Kuroko was surprised, he didn't show it, no one was there to see his surprise by the way but that didn't stop him from masking his emotions. Of course he was stunned, too surprised that he wanted to run away. He pushed the door open and stepped outside in a rush. His fingers itched to open the door once again and examine the portrait; he deposited his hands on his pockets instead and started to walk away from the light house. Yet halfway of going back to the mansion, his gaze were met by a pair of round hetero-chromatic eyes.

"A-Akashi?" He softly said, his voice eaten by the sound of the waves hitting the mountain of sheer rocks. His cousin was dressed in clothes much finer than the cloth he had worn before.

"What are you doing here?" They both said in sync which could have been a laughing matter if they were not wearing such serious faces.

Akashi was younger to him by four years—it was his task to look after him but recently, Kuroko noticed that it was the other way around and felt unpleasant. His cousin looked at him as though he had seen him after many years, a constant crumple between his eyebrows were made as he hurriedly walk closer to Kuroko.

"Where the hell have you been?" He asked as he stepped from a rock to another, balancing his frail body on the uneven surfaces. "I was _worried_; they said that you didn't attend any of your classes. And they spoke so ill of you, god, I wanted to rip out their mouths." He said detestably.

Kuroko drew a quick lie from his mind. "I was just taking a walk, I'm feeling stressed lately."

"If you're tired, you should have just taken a rest in your room and besides, why in here? The café's owner said that you even dragged that Taiga with you, so I followed." Akashi tells him, irritated. "Don't you know that it's dangerous? The tide goes up with a very irregular timing, you could have drowned."

"Calm down, Sei." He said, shaking his head lightly. He was about to speak when he noticed that Akashi was looking directly at the light house that was still near enough to be visible towering behind his back.

"Huh…" Akashi muttered, having completely forgotten of his worries about Kuroko's well-being. "Is someone in the lighthouse?" Somehow his voice sounded longing for something, his eyes never-moving from the light house—which by now was well-lit, light escaping from the windows as if someone was truly in there. Not surprising since it was nighttime already. Kise had probably lightened up some candles.

The sheet of paper that has Akashi's face drawn onto immediately flashed through Kuroko's mind. Akashi's reaction when he saw the light house was definitely suspicious, they were looking at the same place but Akashi was seeing something else_—shit._

Kuroko narrowed his eyes. He grabbed Akashi's hand and dragged him back to the light house's direction. He never wanted Akashi to get involved with this little secret but it seemed like his cousin was already tangled even before he had known of Aomine and Kise. Of course he had no idea of how and why, that's why he's going to demand Kise for explanations.

"Tetsuya, hey, wait. Where are we going, we should head back."

"You want to go in there too, right?"

"Wha—?"

"The person living in the light house, do you want to meet him or not?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You know who Kis—"

"That's enough."

As Kuroko reached the front of the lighthouse's door, Kise's voice echoed in vast space, as if the waves stopped and the wind had stilled bringing complete silence in their surroundings. Kuroko searched for Kise's location, but as soon as he turned his head, his hand lost grasp of Akashi's and stumbled back. In a swift moment, Kise had taken Akashi's hand away from his, but he released Akashi too after making sure that the boy was at least many meters away from Kuroko.

Losing track of how fast it happened, Kuroko frowned; Kise was in front of him suddenly and whispered something on his ear. "Don't you ever tell him my name. This is a serious matter, you can't do that now. Understand, Kurokochi?" His voice was suddenly poisonous; shock and uneasiness-so acute as to be spine-chilling-swamped him all at once. As he spoke, Kise's cold breath touched his ears too and that made him tremble even more—this time, Kise didn't sound anything like a human being.

Not even a bit.

"Why? What's wrong with Akashi?"

"Nothing. Akashi is…" He paused, eyes deep with something that Kuroko could not identify.

Kise withdrew and stepped back, completely aware of the younger boy who's been staring at him from the moment that he made an appearance, Akashi didn't notice but it didn't mean that he didn't feel anything either—he just didn't know that it was Kise.

He never knew.

"Long time no see, boy." He told Akashi with a small, proud but genuine smile. Kise insisted on acting like a completely different person, on which Kuroko hadn't taken a liking—what was his connection with his cousin anyway?

Kise's smile made Akashi clench the hem of his over-sized jacket. He studied the figure in front of him with an expression that was torn in between suspicion, anger and fright—his jaw felt rigid and could not speak.

Because this man before his eyes… he was sure that he had seen him already, only in one of his dreams.

Or so he thought.

"You're the fox spirit." Akashi finally said, his throat dry with unconscious stupor. "Tetsuya, he is a spirit." Although there was a little terror in his voice, there was also a dominant curiosity that was mixed within it which is surprisingly the contradiction of what Kuroko wanted to see and hear from his cousin. Akashi can be violent, but he is also still very young.

"No." Kuroko said firmly. "What are you talking about?" Because if there's someone who resembles a fox spirit in there, that would definitely be Aomine and Aomine alone. He didn't want to think of Okami at the moment.

"He is real." Akashi said, eyes caught with fascination and had quickly learned to stare at Kise despite the unwillingness of the latter. _He was an honest child,_ Kise thought. _Perhaps too honest. _Kuroko was momentarily shocked by the sudden change in Seijuro's attitude.

"You," He said, "we have met before, didn't we?" He asked Kise, going one step closer, pebbles rolling under his shoe. The sun was almost setting, throwing there shadows on the ground in benevolent manner.

"We did?" Kise asked him, feeling Kuroko's careful stare boring holes on his back. He could already list down the questions that would be asked later. Of course Kuroko noticed the drawing on the wall—he knew that fairly well, yet even he could not understand why he had let Kuroko discover that when it was supposed to be his own little secret. He could have hidden the portrait somewhere else… he could have shut the windows tight so no wind could blew the secrets pasted on that wall. Still, it could be that, without thinking and doing any of these precautions, he really did wanted Kuroko to see it; perhaps he wanted him to be involved after all.

It was no coincidence.

Because Kuroko was the person nearest to the thing that he valued the most.

"Yes, we did." Akashi insisted, surprising Kuroko, because Seijurou never sounded desperate in front of strangers. He's like a wall, a barricade. "Have you forgotten?" Akashi was just sixteen, and to say these to Kise seemed outrageous enough to send the blonde laughing. Akashi arched a brow at Kise's outburst.

"There's nothing funny." Akashi glared.

"Y-you're asking…" Kise laughed again. "You're asking me if I've forgotten but do you even remember what it is that I have, you say, 'forgotten'?

"Yes of course!" Confidence was written all over Akashi's face. And never did Kuroko heard him hold a longer conversation. "A year ago, while we're exploring the cave on the beach with Taiga, I got lost and couldn't seem to find the way out of the cave. Then the tide was rising and it was cold, I was sure that I will die. That's when you helped me. I couldn't see your figure clearly but I know you have tails and they were glowing mad blue. When we reached the shore, it was your face that I last saw. You saved me."

"Seijuro," Kuroko called to his cousin. Apparently, this information was never heard of. "I never heard any of this before." He said after a time, when no one had spoken anymore. And Kise too, these figure with tails that Akashi mentioned seemed highly familiar… but how?

"Well, it is the truth, I knew what I saw. I tried searching but I never found saw you. It's like you didn't even existed so I thought it was all a dream. I thought that maybe it was the waves that swam me to the shore; that I was just lucky to have lived after the incident. I never thought you're actually real until now."

"You seemed to misunderstand something." Kise replied, "I never _saved_ you. But yes, it was me who found you unconscious on the shore and called other people for help. That's all I did. Do I even have _tails_?" His voice was mocking, taunting. "Your savior's a _mermaid_, perhaps."

"It was an animal's tail, like a fox… like a cat, not a fish!"

"If you don't believe me then let me at least tell you know that I am not interested on what or who saved you. Is this what I get after helping you a year ago?"

Taken aback by Kise's harsh words, Akashi fell quiet; he could not understand this person. He was sure that it was this guy who saved him. Although it was true that he didn't have tails at the moment, Akashi has been feeling such a strong sense of assurance. This would be Kise's lost, even though he had not realized it yet.

"Is this what this is about?" Akashi sounded angry, "You want something in return?" His voice hardens with disgust. And said, suddenly softly, "I don't even know your name." The younger boy muttered, unconsciously ignoring Kuroko's stares and stepping closer yet again to Kise.

"I don't need a name." Kise said right after Akashi had spoken, as though he did not want the boy to ask for his name in the first place. "Never had one."

Akashi blinked. "Seriously? After all this time, you want to remain _'mysterious'_?"

Instead of answering, Kise turned his eyes to Kuroko's direction, as if the answers were written on his face. Kuroko probably got his drift and sighed.

"Just call him Ki—" he paused, "Ryou" He muttered. "Yes, Ryouta."

Kuroko turned to Kise with a bored expression on his eyes. "Right, Ryouta?"

Kise seemed unfazed, and just blinked twice at Kuroko's direction. "Yes." He looked at Akashi directly. "Of course."

Kuroko seemed hesitant but as he gaze at the horizon's setting sun, he sighed and felt the ocean breeze pressed against his face.

"Aren't we going to go back now, Akashi?" He announced, yet after a time, Akashi was still staring at Kise with indifferent eyes. Something was in there that Kuroko could not see, something that didn't belong to Akashi at all.

It looked like Akashi wanted to stay and talk to Kise, his lips slightly parted and brows crumpled into a neat wary. He clenched his fist, fingernails digging onto his young skin.

"Come on, I can take you here again. Ryouta won't leave." Kuroko said, locking his gaze to Kise, as if it the message was for him. "Not this time."

"To tell you the truth I don't care if he leaves or not. But…" Akashi turned his back and started walking. "… I prefer if he stays."

Kise smirked slightly at this, Akashi was just a kid after all— children wouldn't even know that they've already lie to themselves unless it was pointed out. Although Kuroko was aware of this, he said nothing and just followed Akashi back to the estate. In spite of everything, he knew that Kise has a reason to go back too.

* * *

"You've come." Aomine said as he set his golden eyes to Kuroko's direction that had just came inside the attic. He was currently sitting by the window, watching stars with mid-interest. "You sure you don't want to sleep instead? You're aware that time flies faster when you're here at the attic."

"I am an expected visitor." Kuroko simply replied, closing the door to the attic and sat on Aomine's bed, the latter looked at him with questioning eyes.

"Why didn't you tell me about Akashi?"

"Akashi…" Aomine's voice was asking. "Ah. You're _psycho_… cousin. What about him?"

Kuroko's eyes hardened. "I do not like to play games. You knew him, didn't you?"

"Such serious eyes." Aomine sighed. "I did not hide anything. I simply don't have any intention of mentioning it." It seemed like Aomine had caught on the subject Kuroko was pursuing but remained indifferent about it.

"A year ago, you saved him. It's a big deal."

"For you people, yes."

"Why? Why did you help him?" _When you can't even help yourself_, Kuroko wanted to say but didn't.

In response, Aomine only shrugged. Kuroko was not pleased.

"Why?" He repeated.

"I don't know what Kise said to you but I only did what I was told. He, of all people, would know that. He asked me to help Akashi. Don't bother asking me why again, because you're going to get nothing."

"I don't understand."

"Can't you just be thankful that Akashi was saved? Because if wasn't for Kise, he'd already dead by now."

Kuroko fell silent. That might be right, but something also felt wrong, a part was missing. He did not want to say nothing but Aomine's word managed to persuade him to remain mute. Perhaps for now, it was enough.

"It's okay if you don't understand. Sometimes, choices are constantly being made, but humans hardly notice."

Kuroko thought he heard Kise's voice and his guess really had won when the taller boy appeared—his head suddenly poked out under Aomine's bed. If Kuroko was surprised, he only showed it with a quick jump.

"Can you at least come in normally, Kise?" Aomine's voice was irritated yet it seemed like he was already used to this kind of antics. He hung his head hopelessly.

Soon enough, Kise crawled out from under the bed and dusted himself. There was a bright smile on his face, carrying no remnant of the cocky attitude he acted earlier when Akashi was present; his cold demeanor was instantly replaced by a cheerful aura that Kuroko had known when they were first introduced with each other.

"Good evening, Aominechi!" He told them lively. "Good evening, Kurokochi!"

"You sound terribly happy. And stop smiling, that face of yours looks ugly enough." Aomine sneered, obviously losing his patience over Kise's loud voice.

"Aominechi, so mean!"

Kuroko only stared at Kise with searching eyes. Kise had always had this mysterious air around him but as to why he always looked like he didn't give a damn about the world, Kuroko have no idea. The fact that he was originally one of Okami's victim and that he has this secret that has something to do with Akashi just made Kuroko more puzzled than he already was. It was alright to suspect, wasn't it? Because Kuroko just wanted to protect someone too. It's only a matter of what reason they both have—that's where they differ.

It seemed like Kise had gotten used to Aomine's unfriendliness too so he didn't really pay him the slightest attention, perhaps he did but it was only to acknowledge Aomine's presence. He turned to Kuroko with a guarded smile instead.

"What?" Kuroko asked, voice unconsciously sharp.

"No matter how I look at you, I can't see any resemblance to Akashi."

"We don't need a resemblance to be called cousins."

"True." Kise relaxed his shoulders. "True enough." As if Kuroko had said something to pique Kise's interest.

"So Kurokochi, you want answers?" He continued.

"I don't need answers. I just want the truth. You have some explaining to do." Kuroko paused as his eyes found Kise's. "How did Akashi end up getting involve? I am not stupid you know, are you the reason?"

Aomine remained silent at the window sill, watching the exchange with clouded eyes. This matter is between Kuroko and Kise, and probably Akashi too even though he's not here at the moment. He'd keep his own thoughts aside for now, that's what he had decided at least.

"Rather than saying that I am the reason alone, I think it'd be more appropriate to call me the _creator_ of the reason. Being just the 'reason' wouldn't justify my means."

Kuroko was confused.

"Weren't those just the same thing? The reason _and_ the creator of the reason, in the end you were still the cause."

"Not quite." Kise answered. "When he got trapped on the cave, I asked Aomine to appear. I didn't even tell him to help Akashi. And I wasn't even thinking about him in the first place; that cave is near the lighthouse, if he is to die in there—people will start to notice, they'd go and investigate the cave. There's a possibility that they will pay attention to the lighthouse too, and that is my home, I can't let them do as they like. I was protecting myself, not him." He said.

"Humans have been always that engrossed with mysteries and tales. I simply _made_ the reason why your cousin's involved, and that reason would be Aomine; usually Aomine cannot be seen by a normal human, but if he choose to be visible, he could do it, only for short period of time though. By seeing Aomine, Akashi bought it upon to himself. He was given choices: to believe and not to believe. He chose to believe in what he saw and that was how he'd gotten involved. He was saved because he reached out to Aomine; on the other hand, Aomine only wanted to protect the cave so he saved him."

Kuroko listened intently.

"What we did might seem good to the humans, but we only did it to protect the cave and my home. It just happens that Akashi benefited from our objective. I believe your cousin misinterpreted my action as a good will. He is wrong. It was for my own sake. Good and evil are concepts that only humans invented. Those terms don't apply to us. "

Kuroko tried very hard to believe him. "Please quit lying to me."

"No one is lying." Kise told him with finality in his voice. "In this world, it is impossible to live without hurting others." Kise almost snapped, his eyes suddenly jaded with anguish. "If you can't accept this as early as now, how would you expect yourself to save Aomine?"

"And how did this become about Aomine?" Kuroko replied back, quite sharply to be called calm.

"If you don't trust me then how am I going to help you save him? There is no room for doubt right now."

"Then just tell me everything that you know. No more hiding."

Kise frowned. "This is useless. Do you think you can really save him as long as you know everything? Do you think you can save him alone? Would _you_ be enough?"

Silence ensued.

"I've been so kind already, but it's better for you to understand the reality of the situation as soon as possible. There are some things that can change you permanently if you learn of them. If we tell you everything now, can you promise us that you won't be prejudice once you've heard it? Pretend you didn't hear? Lie for all your life?"

"Tthat is…"

"Nothing's going to happen if you continue to be stubbo—"

Kise's words melted in that very moment without reaching its end.

"That's enough, Kise. You should calm down yourself. Tesu's not used to this yet." Aomine had to cut him off, it was already difficult for him to listen… but for him to see Kuroko's troubled face was more agonizing that what he had imagined. He didn't want him to change.

"I'm sorry." Kuroko then said, his voice was meek but honest. "I just… get so frustrated over myself, because I do not know anything. I am not afraid of finding out the truth so I always thought that I am ready for everything. Had our places been reversed, I think I would've gotten angry too so I am sorry."

Kise shut his eyes then let out a deep sigh. "I guess being young makes you obedient. You know what the real problem is? Your problem is when you get serious, you get confused." He said softly. "I am not mad so don't frown like that." He then smiled instantly at him. "I am just really worried because you almost told Akashi my name."

"And what's wrong with that?"

"Everything." With his words that are as hard as his stare, Kise gave Kuroko a trusted look. "You're not allowed to repeat this to anyone because I am not supposed to say it in the first place."

Kuroko nodded slowly.

"It is true that Aomine saved him, but it wasn't full moon during that time. Do you get it, Kuroko?"

_Then how did he get out of the attic?_ Kuroko questioned on his head. He nodded at Kise's inquiry.

"In order to free Aomine for a certain amount of time, there must an equal sacrifice to be offered."

"Offered to who?"

"It's _to what_, Kuroko." Aomine chorused.

"To the attic. On this place."

Kuroko was momentarily in dazed.

"You see, this place is also alive, even now." Kise sat on the floor, his legs in a butterfly position and he still wears his so-called high school uniform. "It sees everything inside of it, hear our conversations and even decide on who to let in or throw out."

"Wait. I thought Okami was trapped in here by those charms that were set up the Tetsuya family?"

"Yes, that's true too. But do you really think that those charms alone could harness the power of a goddess like Okami? This house is old." He started. "The woods of this attic were made from a monstrous ancient willow tree. It was believed that it was possessed by an earth spirit before." He continued.

"That creature might be dead already when the tree was cut down, but its powers remained passive even after being chopped and constructed thus blessing its powers to the entire attic. Basically, it is _still_ alive.

"We can't communicate with it, but we can make offerings to be able to borrow some of its blessings: one of that is to temporarily free Aomine despite of Okami's curse. You see, this attic wouldn't really allow Okami to leave so the goddess made a fair exchange—she offered Aomine and it agreed." He gave Aomine a swift glance before continuing.

"Back when Akashi was about to drown, I gave the attic my name to be able to momentarily free Aomine. My offer is too small so the permission could only last for a few minutes but that was enough to save your cousin. And that is why I can't tell anyone my name aside from the people who's been at the attic already."

_"__Oh… so that was why he was so rude to Kagami. He didn't want him to tell his name."_

"But why your name, of all things to offer?"

There was a sudden pause in Kise's voice. "Well…that's all I have."

Kise's answer was a restricted one and for some reason, Kuroko found it rather sad.

"Why did you name me "Ryouta" anyway?"

"That?" Kuroko dismissed his incoming frown. "I don't really know. I just did." Supposedly Kuroko had said this with such a grin that he looked like he couldn't have been enjoying himself more.

"Wow, that's really _thoughtful_. Thanks."

"Uh. So…"

"Hm?"

"What will happen if you tell them your real name?"

"It will be something that I fear the most."

_But…_, Kuroko thought. _Was it always about fear? I don't think so. I think it's more of wanting other people to see that they are actually not comfortable with something, that they need someone to be there for them. He wasn't scared; Kise was probably just really, really, lonely._

But then again, he could be wrong about these assumptions.

"I know I said that you don't have to tell me everything, but maybe you can make me understand by saying things little by little." Kuroko told him. He wanted to understand him.

After a time, it seemed like his words were accepted by Kise. "Well, they will die if I tell them my real name. The attic needs a compensation."

"Oh." So that's why he's not letting Akashi find the truth. Even though Kise said that he didn't really care about his cousin, he didn't want him to die. Perhaps Kise was not the same person that he believed himself to be. He wanted to protect someone important to him. Feeling that way shows Kise's true self.

_"__Don't you think risking everything on one single person is way too terrifying?"_ Kuroko, Aomine and Kise wanted to ask each other this question but in the end, none of them muttered a single word.

* * *

**A/N:** I want a cool Kise, and I made that happen! I think he is capable of that despite the glaringly-obvious-uke-tendencies the original story portrays. He gotta have a cool side too, I think. And Akashi, I hope he is not too out of his character because believe me, I just want him to appear as someone young and naive without losing his fiery streak. He IS the youngest one in here. Yes, I completely ignored their chronological ages, please don't get mad ^^;; I also included Taiga, cheers to that idiot, he likes Tetsu enough; I'll save their banter for later chapters since those two are not really the focus of this story _*coughaokurocough*_ I hope you enjoyed this chapter :D

Of course, your reviews would mean a lot. Thanks! :)


	6. underneath the summer trees

**A/N:** I like Teikou Arc Akashi, that is all I have to say.

* * *

**_underneath the summer trees;_**

* * *

"Yo, Akashi! Classes are over, hang out with us!"

"Oh… no thanks, but I have to get home early today. I have to meet my _brother_ today. Maybe next time."

"Again? Awww." They sulked. "You're always so busy! Alright, next time, okay? See you!"

At the disappointed tone of his classmate, Akashi could only wave a helpless hand, say goodbye and display a fake smile. He unlocked his bicycle and walked it to the school gate. _It's almost summer_, he thought. Almost a year after he got trapped on the cave near the beach, and almost a month when he first met Ryouta… yet nothing had really changed for the most part of his life. He's still so restricted—it had been always like this because he was never allowed to do anything outside of his school, unless he has an errand to run. His uncle pays for his tuition so disobeying him might be a bad idea. He wanted to study, finish high school and get out of the main house. It was hard at first, to always turn down invites from his friends but he can't always say he's busy being a _servant_ so he just tells them lies and excuses. The more often he lied, the easier it became for him eventually. More convenient. It was bad but he was never discouraged by this.

"Do you always lie like that? You have talent, it's convincing."

He froze on his spot and almost lost hold of his bike when he heard the familiar voice. His head snapped back on the source of it and wore a sour face. "What are you doing here, Ryouta?"

"And hello to you too, Akashi." Kise said with a little smirk. "So… do you always lie like that?"

The boy questioned drew an uncaring shrug. "It's none of your business. Why are you even here?" Akashi's frown deepened and continued walking his bicycle, not sparing Kise a second look in every step.

"That's cold." Kise joked. "Why? Well, in case you haven't noticed I am also a student in here. An upperclassman, apparently."

For the second time, Akashi stopped on his tracks and gave Kise a critical look. He, indeed, did not notice that Kise was actually wearing the same uniform as him—a white long-sleeved polo shirt that has a red neck tie and black pants—all crisp and mighty new. Seeing how Kise's clothes were whiter than his kind of pissed Akashi. He never had someone to do the laundry for him or teach him that so he still couldn't wash them properly. In his head, he's thinking that Ryouta is probably a rich man's child.

"I never see you in here, are you a transferee?"

Even though he was still kind of mad at Ryouta for treating him like an idiot during the last time they talked, Akashi grew inwardly curious as to since when the other boy started going to the same school as him. He honestly had never seen him before. It's not a big school, everyone knows _everyone_.

Kise shook his head. "No. I've been here since middle school." _And probably much longer than that too._

"Is that true?"

"There is no rule in the world saying that it has to be true."

Akashi frowned yet again. "It's no use talking like this, you totally have issues; how did you even know of my cousin? Kuroko's too good to be a friend of yours."

"You surely think highly of him."

"Are you stupid? Of course I do. He's one the greatest people that I've ever known." There were sparks on his eyes, as if fireworks were etched on them.

In return, Kise merely gave him an unsatisfied look. "Ohhh, really?"

Hearing the tone of his voice, Akashi couldn't help but pay him more attention. "What?" Ryouta's pissing him off yet at the same time, that same irritation have made it harder for him to actually stay away from him.

"Nothing." Kise chirped. "So… wanna go home together?"

At the sudden invitation, Akashi have to conceal his insincerity.

"And don't even try lying. Your excuses won't work on me." Kise looked at Akashi's bike as if it was such a foreign object to him. "Hey, can I ride on that too? I've never used one before."

"Why…" Akashi muttered.

"Huh?"

"Why are doing this?"

"Doing what?"

Akashi grasped the handlebars too tightly until his hands hurt, "This. If you're really from this school then why didn't you even show your face to me once? Just once would have been enough." He yelled and he didn't mean to because Akashi didn't want Ryouta to think that it was a big deal for him, which is true but he's not going to admit.

Despite Akashi's reaction at the moment, Kise couldn't help but put a grin on his fake name—this was probably not the wise reaction but right now, suppressing his amusement would be inevitable. Did Akashi look for him that hard? Even though he's always been here, just watching Akashi from the corners, Kise had never had a reason to talk to him personally, not until now by the way.

"Why do you like me that much?" He asked then, not thinking that his words might get misinterpreted because of the way he asked it, given their situation.

"What?" Akashi exclaimed, exasperated.

"Well if no, then do you hate me?"

"I'm starting to."

"So you like me?"

"What the hell is your problem?"

"Don't answer me with another question, Akashi."

Apparently, Kise wasn't clear on the concept of 'liking' someone.

"Then just stop asking me stupid questions. I'm going home now and don't you dare follow me."

"At least let me ride on that thing first; I told you it's my first time trying to use one." Kise pointed curiously at the Akashi's bike.

"Seriously, what time are you from? It's just a bicycle."

"Oh… so that's called a 'bicycle', huh…"

"Yo kids! We're closing the gates! Are you two going to stay in there forever?" The stout guard shouted at them, relevantly impatient.

Akashi just muttered an irritated apology and then he turned to Kise. "Fine, you can ride it with me," there was a sudden pause. "…but just for today. I'll be the one to drive so just step on those metal bars beside the wheel and hold onto my back. I don't care if you fall."

Kise blinked, probably clueless of the instruction Akashi just gave him. He readjusted his bag on his shoulder instead. The other boy sat himself on the bike once they were outside the school grounds and waited for Kise to ride it himself. He readied to jab his feet on the stainless-steel pedal.

"What are you waiting for?"

"We can ride that together?"

Akashi stared at him for a tick, only to realize that Kise was serious.

"Ryouta, you seriously haven't ride a bicycle before?"

Kise nodded. But instead of finding it weird, Akashi found it incredibly interesting. That was what he sensed when he laid his eyes on Ryouta's impending pair, as if they want to trespass his being and stay there for good—this guy gave off the feeling that he wanted to be with someone and that he was lonely. Akashi truly didn't know how he arrived with that conclusion and that made feel even weirder because with the way Kise treated him a month ago at the light house—it was clear the he didn't want to see Akashi. He was precisely very rude to him. This innocent Ryouta was the total contradiction of everything; this person wasn't the person he met many days ago—he was suddenly vulnerable. Akashi sighed. Many things had happened.

"Come here," He signaled to Ryouta and the other boy assented. "Step on the steel bars," He pointed at the back wheels wherein the bars were attached, "stand there, and hold onto my shoulder so you won't fall." He said slowly, as if he was talking to a child.

Surprisingly, Ryouta followed his instructions right then. Akashi felt like he was the adult between the two of them and this made him content quite a bit. Akashi smirked unconsciously as Ryouta settled his hands on his shoulders, holding onto them securely.

That's all.

Despite his small figure, Akashi was actually quite strong so even though Ryouta was centimeters taller than him, and significantly heavier, he still managed to steer the bike with ease. They passed a sporadic road with a few bumps and after that was the small bridge that connects the capital and the downtown, an old river flowing below it. On the side mirror, Akashi saw Ryouta giving the other side of the bridge a wary look, as if something terrifying that he loathed was in there. The expression reminded him of the Ryouta he first met. He gave off an aura of superiority and hatred.

Akashi looked at the direction Kise was looking but saw nothing, he focused cycling on the road afterwards, afraid that they might stumble upon a rock and crush indefinitely. He couldn't afford to let his bicycle to be broken now anyway- Kuroko have fixed it so many times that he would feel guilty if he doesn't take care of it now.

The sun was almost down the horizon when they arrived at the manor, casting long shadows of the two boys on the ground as they walked past the black gate and into the mansion. The summery wind passed by. The trunks of the trees surrounding the estate were grey and bright, and the leaves that clung to them were as theatrical green as leaves could get. The courtyard was like an avenue of beech trees, with roots lifting massively out of the earth in front of them.

"Hey Ryouta, why did you even insist on coming with me?" Akashi asked as he locked his bike near the storage room, only a few meters from the main house. Ryouta refused to tell him where he lives, but Akashi had already suspected it to be at the light house.

The blonde just stood there, quietly staring at the roof of the mansion, wherein the attic was supposedly located. His hair was long enough for Akashi to suggest cutting it but there was something in them too that made him think otherwise. _They suit him_, he thought, _his hair._

It was a romantic scene, really, standing among this green avenue of huge leaves—Akashi had always read love novels from Kuroko's mini library and often imagined his love story to start off with a beautiful place like this. He should've been in here with someone like Shakespeare's Juliet or Austen's Elizabeth, would have been thinking of the girl the he was destined to love. Instead of which, he was stuck, in all this beauty, with _Ryouta,_ a bipolar upperclassman that once saved him from dying. _What an odd situation_, he thought.

When Ryouta didn't answer his earlier question, Akashi realized that Ryouta wasn't just looking at the attic; he was examining the said place—as though he can view something in there that Akashi could not, just like what he did on the bridge.

"Where's Kuroko?" Ryouta suddenly asked, words stopped before more could be spoken.

_Ah,_ perhaps this was why Ryouta accompanied him through home; _he just wanted to see Kuroko, _he thought. He should've noticed this earlier anyway, especially when he met Ryouta on the beach. There was already an air of familiarity that was settled between him and Tetsuya—which was odd since his cousin was never the type of person who has lots of friends, probably only Kagami if you would ask him and besides, why Ryouta of all people?

"I've been meaning to ask you this but I never had the chance," Akashi walked in front of Kise and said this. "What really is your relationship with my cousin?"

Kise could not manage to ignore Akashi, not when the boy was in front of him, demanding for an answer, his eyes so honest that Kise could not even make fun of him.

"We have a strange relationship." He replied. "It's complicated in many ways."

Akashi's stare dropped to the ground and he asked. "What do you mean by that?"

Ryouta's answer was probably true and Akashi did not like it. No, not even a bit. Just who is Ryouta to his cousin? It's a questionable connection. He was almost at the perfect state of minding other people's business when he heard a familiar voice, cutting the conversation between Ryouta and him.

"Ryouta," Said the voice behind them. "We're not supposed to meet until midnight. Why are you here?" It was Tetsuya. "And why are you with Akashi?" He shot his cousin a questioning look.

Akashi was about to answer when Kise spoke for him. "I asked him for a ride," he said, smiling brightly as if Kuroko just told him a joke. "I could not wait until midnight, we must talk right now. Do you mind?"

Kuroko gave Kise a serious stare, probably understanding that it would be a 'talk' that has something to do with Aomine. He sighed and just nodded, tiredly. "It's alright. Come with me inside."

Akashi did not like the way Kuroko easily agreed with Ryouta too, he clenched his fists and hid his eyes behind his bangs. He wanted to ask what really was going on but his voice dried up and he couldn't form a sentence, it was suddenly hard to speak, or perhaps he suddenly didn't have strength to meddle between Kuroko and Ryouta's business, whatever that was. What he knew was that he's just uncomfortable with all of this, seeing his cousin getting close with someone else and seeing Ryouta get familiar with Kuroko. _Midnight? Is this why Kuroko's always up so late?, _he asked himself.

"I'm sorry Sei, I might not be able to join you in dinner, if you want you can jus—"

"It's okay." He faked Tetsuya a smile. He looked tired. "It's okay." He repeated.

Kuroko gave him a worried look but still guided Kise inside; entering through the back door so no one else would notice them. He knew Akashi wanted to ask many things but he also knew that he couldn't give him the right answers.

Alone outside, Akashi's eyes were jaded. _"It's okay."_ He said to no one in particular.

His words melted in that afternoon without reaching the two older boy. Only the orange summer sky saw what happened.

Right after arriving at the attic, Kise immediately tossed his bookbag on the floor and walked furiously to Aomine's direction, it was entirely visible that he was panicking. His brows were furrowed together as his lips were pursed into a thin intimidating line. Kuroko could only care less about that because he was at lost himself too.

"Should I get mad? Because you completely appeared right in front of my cousin when you are—"

"Aomine, it appeared." Kise had to cut Kuroko off and there was extreme wariness on his voice as he said this to the tailed boy. He ven dropped the nicknames. "The bridge appeared."

Kuroko was immediately silenced then, the air was so thick and everything in the attic was so silent that you could almost hear you own breathing. He looked over the place where Aomine sat—at the window sill, one leg hanging down to the floor and eyes solid yellow glimmering through the darkness. Kuroko fought shivers down his spine. It was a beast.

"I know." Aomine said lowly, cold. "She's here."

_Okami._

Her name wasn't needed to be mentioned for Kuroko to know who they were talking about.

"So," Having forgotten what he was about to ask earlier, about why Kise was with Akashi exactly, Kuroko's mind was suddenly filled with Okami. "Are we going to look for her now?" He asked Aomine.

Jumping down from the window sill, the chains on his feet hit the floor loudly and produced an eerie clang. Aomine shook his head once he's standing flat on the floor. "No. We're gonna wait for the full moon. I need to be there myself."

"Three days from now, there's gonna be one night with a full moon. Things shall start during that." Kise said afterwards.

"What about the bridge you mentioned earlier?" Kuroko's question was hurried.

Kise ran a hand on his unruly hair as if he was so stressed. "There is another bridge located just beside the bridge you have in this town, the one that connects the capital and the downtown. It can't be seen by normal people because it takes a very great psychic ability to be able to sense it." He then loosened his tie before continuing. "Spirits call it the 'Suicide Bridge', another term for 'The Bridge That Commits Murder'. Factually, during the old times, a bridge was really built in there and many people have chosen it as the place to end their lives, hence the current name. It was destroyed by a flood centuries ago and was totally washed out but it seems that the nonphysical attachment of the people who committed suicide on it in the past was so strong that the bridge, even though it was already gone physically, had remained spiritually. It might not be seen but the very same bridge was still standing in there, and only we, along with other unworldly creatures can see it and even walk on it. That includes you too, Kuroko."

"I've never seen it before." Kuroko replied, skeptical.

"The bridge's power remained weak for the past ten years so it couldn't take form, even I couldn't see until now."

"How is that connected with Okami exactly?"

"You are aware that Okami usually feeds on human, right? Well she isn't really picky with her food, so she eats spirits too. Suicidal spirits are her favorite so the Suicide Bridge is the best place to hunt for them. Besides, when that Bridge appears, it's a sign that a strong spiritual power is nearby, allowing it to manifest a distinguishable form. As of now, Okami is the only one creature around this place that could make The Bridge respond like that."

"Crossing The Bridge is also quite essential, if we really want to meet Okami, we need to rub on you the smell of 'suicide souls'—just to be certain that she'd really be attracted." Aomine told Kuroko, momentarily concerned as he faced the said boy.

On the other hand, Kuroko's expression never changed, still clam, still unfazed. It pissed of Aomine and he didn't show it. Kuroko would act strange or afraid once in a while but it never got to the extent that he'd be so restless or anything that could be considered out of his personality—which might actually be the normal response towards this matter at the moment. For a normal person, that is.

But then again, _Tetsu was not normal, was he?_ Aomine stared at Kuroko's wings and wondered if anyone else could see it. He never had the chance to ask Kise but even if he did so, there's a high possibility that Kise wouldn't tell him the truth.

"Rub the smell on me? That sounds disgusting…" Kuroko muttered but it was loud enough for Aomine to here.

"This is coming from a person who'd normally talk to a creature who has a tail. Really now, Tetsu?"

"This is this and that is that." Kuroko then scowled, which already a good sign because he, at the very least, has shown a reaction. "Those are completely different things."

Aomine _tsk_-ed.

"Besides," Kuroko started. "Why do you always emphasize that you are different, don't you like to be treated as a human?"

"I hate humans; they are irrational, unfaithful and they AGE. What's so good about that? I believe I've also emphasized my hatred for them right from the very start."

"But you've grown like _us_, with us. You've also aged, aren't you?"

Aomine gave Tetsuya Kuroko his best glare, to no discernible effect, of course.

"I shouldn't have." _This attic made it all possible, _he said on his head. "Or should I say, the attic made it 'faster'."

"Huh? What 'faster'?"

Kise didn't appear to be listening now, peering around with a bored look on his face; it's merely an _Aomine-Kuroko_ thing after all. He stopped by the window and gazed at storage shed were Akashi had put his so-called 'bicycle', leaving Kise with the impression that it must have been really important to the kid. However, as he recalled Akashi's sour expression when they left him at the courtyard earlier, everything seemed to matter on his face—more than how much he cared for the 'bicycle'.

"Do you know how old I am at the moment?" Aomine asked after a moment.

"Very?"

"I am 170 years old."

"…" A pause. "Should I laugh?"

"No." Aomine hissed. "I am perfectly serious that you lose the right to make fun of me."

"But that's impossible."

_170 years old? Then how long is his lifetime, a thousand_? But then again, when it comes to Aomine, that too was possible, Kuroko supposed.

"I just age slower." He breathed out. "Ten human years is equivalent to a year, so when we first met, I was actually a hundred years old—human age: ten. Supposedly, I only should have been eleven right now—since only ten years have passed, but the attic prolongs time in an irregular basis so my body at the moment is of a seventeen years old person."

"So you mean…"

"For me, I was here for more than 70 years."

Of course Kuroko knew that he was being serious. But that didn't help him to swallow the guilt that has long been settled on the pits of his conscience. After all, it was all probably his fault.

Probably.

* * *

**A/N:** I feed on comments.


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